I shamelessly stole this item right off the page of eWeek’s newsletter.
News Analysis: Security: The Consumer Device Conundrum
With workers carrying a growing array of consumer devices capable of storing large amounts of data, enterprises are being forced to rethink their IT policies to protect themselves from vulnerabilities. What are some possible solutions?
Why would I do that? Simply because it illustrates a question that should never have come up in the first place. Oh, not because it’s not a topical subject! But because it illustrates all too well how out of step enterprises are today.
Instead of spending sleepless nights worrying about employees carrying devices capable of data storage, they should be spending their time writing up company policies designed to make taking any of that data out of the premises a REALLY bad idea. At least without full clearance.
The ‘why’ of that statement is easy enough to understand: There are now so many data storage modes that any attempt to build a fence around the hardware side of things is doomed to failure. Data can be stored on anything from a thumb drive to a wristwatch to a Swiss Army knife, for gosh sakes. The typical paranoid reaction has been to slam the door in the face of users who actually need that data in order to conduct business.
So don’t fall into that knee-jerk reaction! Sit down with management and put together a plan that has some hope of working.
[tags]security,data security,enterprise out of step,enterprise out of touch,consumer device conundrum,business security[/tags]