5 Popular BYOD Apps Putting Your Business At Risk

Do you let your employees conduct company business on their personal devices? Do your staff communicate with each other via their personal smartphones or complete work after hours on their own tablets or laptops? Unless all work and communications are conducted on company-owned devices, you could be putting your business at risk.

Software upgrades are one of the leading risks for BYOD (Bring-Your-Own-Device) companies. Failure to ensure all employees are running the latest versions of apps on their digital device can put company data at risk. From hackers to data leaks, out-of-date software makes bring-your-own-devices a security risk your business shouldn’t be taking.

To understand the top security risks your business can avoid, review the following list of apps your employees are likely using. If staff members have any of these applications on their mobile device, it is your security team’s obligation to make sure all have been upgraded to the latest version. Ready for some surprising risks you might be overlooking?

A mainstay for business tasks, Evernote lets employees do everything from complete worksheets to save image files. Whether they are using it for their own tasks or collaborating with a coworker, the Evernote app could be putting your company at risk if the latest bug patches and security upgrades aren’t in place.

Dropbox is another fan favourite. Powerful for storing data, employees can use Dropbox to store projects they are working on, keep track of time sheets, or save important files they want to work on at home. Since Dropbox is often used both at the office and at home, it is absolutely critical that your IT department monitors the security of versions your team is using.

Skype is often the go-to option for employees who need to tele-conference. From clients around the globe to business associates in other offices, each time your staff has a conversation over Skype they could be unknowingly exposing your company’s infrastructure to hackers. Not only should the latest version of Skype be installed, any peripheral cameras or microphones should be checked for software updates too.

 

With the growing use of Facebook at work as well as the personal version, employees might be inadvertently risking company data by using Facebook to communicate. Management needs to have a firm policy in place regarding discussing company information on Facebook. Whether they’re using Facebook Messenger on their mobile devices or Facebook Chat on their laptops, privacy and data security need to be top-of-mind.

 

Just as proprietary information shouldn’t be discussed on Facebook, the same rule applies to Twitter. Your staff might be using a host of third-party Twitter apps that could be accessing confidential information (contacts, suppliers, etc.); a firm company policy on allowable Twitter add-ons is crucial if you are going to allow employees to conduct company business on their own devices.

Summary

These are just five of numerous apps that could be putting your business’ data at risk. If yours is a BYOD workplace, it is imperative you enforce a ‘current version’ software policy. Without the latest software updates, your staff members could be leaking private company data without knowing it. Will you be having a discussion with your employees to ensure they are all keeping their device’s software up-to-date?