For 72% of companies, BYOD is the future

Bring your own device (BYOD) is the big trend affecting how businesses operate online, with 72% of companies expecting to use the concept extensively in the near future, according to a recent survey by B2B International on behalf of Kaspersky Lab.

50% of these companies plan to actively support BYOD, encouraging staff to use their own computers and devices for work. The other half sees BYOD as inevitable, whether encouraged or not.

July 2012’s Global IT Risks survey canvassed 3,300 senior IT professionals in 22 countries, chosen from experts who are actively involved in IT security decision-making processes. The study gathered their views on the major issues facing the industry.

Companies of all sizes took part in the survey. Interestingly, BYOD is banned more frequently by larger organizations. While 12% of companies overall do not intend to allow personal devices into the workplace in the immediate future, that number drops to only 7% for smaller businesses. A further 19% of respondents plan to restrict the level and nature of personal device usage.

Alexander Erofeev, Chief Marketing Officer at Kaspersky Lab, points out that the growth of BYOD makes ever-increasing demands on organizations’ IT security: “It’s inevitable that in any company, small or large, many employees will use personal devices to connect to the corporate network and access confidential data. For employees, it’s natural to use their smartphones and tablets – without even considering the possible dangers. That’s why companies need to implement security policies that safeguard both corporate and personal mobile devices. Our corporate solutions are designed to cover all the security needs of both SMB and big enterprises, even in companies with a strong BYOD culture.”

To download the full report on the B2B International survey, click here.

To learn more about the ground-breaking features of Kaspersky Lab’s corporate IT security solutions, please visit www.kaspersky.com/beready/.

About Kaspersky Lab

Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world’s top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users*. Throughout its 15-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for consumers, SMBs and enterprises. The company currently operates in almost 200 countries and territories across the globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.

* The company was rated fourth in the IDC rating Worldwide Endpoint Security Revenue by Vendor, 2011. The rating was published in the IDC report "Worldwide Endpoint Security 2012–2016 Forecast and 2011 Vendor Shares (IDC #235930, July 2012). The report ranked software vendors according to earnings from sales of endpoint security solutions in 2011.