Mobile BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Major IT Trend for 2012

We’re on the doorstep of a new year, so the Crescent Solutions team thought we’d take a look at some cresting IT trends.

ISACA (Information Systems Audit and Control Association), Rolling Meadows, Ill., is an independent, nonprofit, global association engaged in the development, adoption and use of globally accepted, industry-leading knowledge and practices for information systems (IS) assurance and security, enterprise governance and management of IT, and IT-related risk and compliance.  Founded in 1969, ISACA hosts international conferences, publishes the ISACA Journal and develops international IS auditing and control standards.

ISACA recently announced recommendations for managing three of the trends widely cited to dominate the IT landscape in 2012: Big Data, the consumerization of information technology (BYOD) and the growing dominance of mobile devices.

Big Data—Coaxing Order Out of Chaos

“Big Data” describes not only the extremely large volumes of data being collected by enterprises in an increasingly connected world, but also their diverse sources, including social networks, sensor networks, customer chat sessions and more.

According to the complimentary ISACA white paper Data Analytics—A Practical Approach (www.isaca.org/data-analytics), enterprises should aim for early success by using analytics across many projects for greater insight, performing ad hoc analysis to support key areas of risk, and defining measures of success along the way.

BYOD—Invasion of Consumer Devices

The consumerization of IT, marked by the invasion of employee-owned smartphones and tablet devices into the workplace, is predicted to be another major trend in 2012.

BYOD—or Bring Your Own Device—is a fast-moving train. IT departments have to jump on it or risk getting left at the station.  Employees who use their own devices for work functions gain flexibility and can be more productive, but those devices are typically more difficult for IT to secure and manage.

Organizations that embrace the BYOD trend need to consider a two-pronged approach to security by focusing on both the device and the data it can access. In 2012, we should see an increased focus on the mobile device and its access to information. IT will need to answer questions such as, ‘Who is accessing corporate information, when and from what device?” and “Is the device trustworthy?’”

Growth in Mobile Equals Growth in Threats

One of most prominent elements in the 2012 security landscape will be the growth of mobile devices, including everything from smartphones and tablet computers to laptops and USB memory sticks.

ISACA expects that in 2012 IT operations will see a sharp increase in attacks targeted at mobile devices, either to exploit them or use them as an access point to corporate networks.  ISACA advises that information security managers need to create an easily understood and executable policy that protects against the data leakage and malware – and then communicate it.

In ISACA’s recent BYOD survey of 1,224 US consumers, 16 percent of respondents say their organization does not have a policy prohibiting or limiting personal activities on work devices, and another 20 percent do not know if one exists.

Setting and communicating policies are central to effective governance of enterprise IT (GEIT), which is a priority with most enterprises, according to the fourth Global Status Report on the Governance of Enterprise IT (GEIT)—2011 by ISACA’s research affiliate, the IT Governance Institute (ITGI).

Only five percent of business executives and heads of information technology surveyed indicated that they do not consider it important, and two-thirds of enterprises have some GEIT activities in place. However, the survey uncovered opportunity for IT leaders to be more proactive, especially in striking a balance between innovation projects and “run the business” tasks.