Bring Your Own Device BYOD

Bring your own device  (BYOD) has become popular with many business owners. It means employees use personal equipment for work. This equipment is usually a smartphone, tablet, or laptop. There are pros and cons for the employer.

Advantages of Bring Your Own Device

• Employers don’t have to buy equipment for staff which is usually the most significant deciding factor.
• Employees are using a device they are familiar with and like to use.
• Employees are more likely to work on their own time, especially when travelling.
• Users are likely to be more available during holidays and other non-work times.

Disadvantages and Considerations for BYOD

• How does management know if staff are working or on personal applications?
• The business does not get to choose which device the user has, and it might not be compatible with some business applications.
• How does management ensure the employee has proper security, like anti-virus? Assuming that they have anti-virus, it is unlikely to be a corporate product and might be a free product that is unlikely to give the best protection. Company systems won’t monitor the employee’s device. The employee will be responsible for renewing the product, and if they don’t, corporate systems become vulnerable.
• Laptops might have home editions of Windows or the wrong versions of applications or not have them at all.
• When the employee leaves, how does the employer ensure they don,t take essential business data with them? It’s not fair to remotely wipe a user’s device when they go, as it will have personal data, including pictures, email, etc. They might have backups anyway.
• Do you want an employee using a phone number you don’t own? When they change jobs in a sales or service-focused job, your customers will still be calling them, possibly resulting in them poaching your customer for their new employer or themselves if they start their own business.
• A personal device is more likely to be lost or stolen as it is in constant use.
• The business will be responsible for complying with GDPR on a device they don’t control
• Who repairs or replaces devices broken, lost, or stolen devices during business use, and how does the employee work without the device?
• The employer must put “Bring Your Own Device” details in employment contracts.

Security professionals sometimes refer to BYOD as “Bring Your Own Disaster”.