Curbing personal devices at work

MOST executives don't seek permission for the gadgets or software they use for corporate tasks in their offices, and it's time companies stopped fighting this trend, say industry experts.

Blue Coat's chief security strategist and senior vice-president, Hugh Thompson, told BizIT that the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend has so quickly become a mainstream reality that companies now need to figure out ways to manage employees' personal devices, rather than lock them down.

In the early days of allowing employees to choose or bring their own devices, many firms, especially those in the financial services industry, chose to disable portions of these devices. Some of them only allowed employees to use the devices within the corporate network if they could install blocking apps that would prevent social media apps from being used, or games from being played, for instance.