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This guide aims to educate IT teams about BYOD policies, from benefits to risks, and how to successfully implement one within an organization or company.
What Is The Bring Your Own Device Policy (BYOD Policy)?
BYOD refers to a set of guidelines regulating the usage and abuse of personal devices like phones, laptops and tablets in an office and the work environment.
BYOD provides businesses with an economical alternative to purchasing and issuing specific devices for use at work, enabling users to use personal devices either on-premises or remotely to connect with the network and applications of their businesses.
Benefits Of A BYOD Policy
Savings For Business
BYOD can be an efficient way to save your business money. Employees using personal devices for work may also be more attentive to them, and it means no broken or stolen equipment costs for you or other companies to bear.
BYOD means you should ensure the software that your business utilizes can be easily accessed across devices and operating systems, including iOS, Android, PCs and Macs.
Our customers will then be able to make calls, attend video conferences and send SMS and instant messages all on mobile or computer phones or computers without interruption from technical difficulties or network disruption.
Faster Onboarding
Allowing employees to use their devices for remote or hybrid work is much faster, particularly as your business rapidly expands.
Updates Are Easier To Maintain
It can take considerable effort and expense to update all employees with the most up-to-date devices at work, which makes keeping updates current easier for employees who bring personal devices such as their smartphones or laptops to work more likely than not.
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Increased Flexibility
The hybrid and remote working model remains viable today. Employees using personal devices to work remotely or during business trips remain just as productive.
Disadvantages Of Having A BYOD Policy
Employee Privacy Is Compromised
Employees may feel vulnerable when companies implement Bring Your Own Device Policies. If using their personal computers at work, employers could monitor browsing or email history more closely, further blurring the line between private life and professional life.
IT Support Can Be Complicated
IT support can be more complex when different employees use different laptops or mobile devices; upgrade and maintenance processes become more cumbersome if IT departments must deal with various pieces of hardware and operating systems; it should also be noted that most businesses provide different devices based on employee preference (for instance they can choose either Apple or PCs).
Malware
Malware is a certainty. No matter whether your company provides all devices for work use or has implemented Bring Your Own Device policies for employees.
Malware could potentially pose more significant threats to companies who choose this path; however, if your organization implements robust security programs and procedures, it might not be as damaging.
Which Elements Should Be Included In A BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) Policy?
Let's take a look at the BYOD policy you need to have. It should go beyond "this is okay or not for personal use".
A Powerful Communications Platform
No matter if they bring their own devices or not, employees need to be able to communicate across devices easily.
Suppose your company uses BYOD policies or uses an internal phone system with video conferencing capabilities, or has other forms of unified communications software in place. In that case, all employees should have access to different devices.
Establishing Company Rights
BYOD policies and acceptable usage may create legal issues. Questions arise regarding who owns data stored on devices brought into work by employees who leave, leaving company data behind on that employee's device brought from home by themself.
It would be advisable to seek legal advice prior to formulating BYOD Policies so your employees know exactly where you stand legally as well.
Device Authentication
Businesses that support BYOD policies will likely find adding extra authentication methods as an effective security measure for devices an efficient strategy.
Two-factor authentication offers employees an extra layer of protection no matter the data that needs protecting. Implementation of Re-Authentication practices is also valuable; for instance, asking employees to re-enter their password every couple of weeks and changing it at least every six months ensures company policies adhere to best practices in protecting sensitive information.
What Devices Are Allowed Or Required
Bring Your Own Device can reduce restrictions on which devices employees can bring into work; however, that doesn't mean there should be no restrictions; sometimes specific operating systems or phone generations must be restricted as employees use them - for instance, older iPhones and iPads might need to be limited for safety's sake.
Disclaimers, Disclosures And Risks
Bring Your Own Device policies must be easily comprehensible to employees in terms of clarity. BYOD policies should contain clear information on risks and liability concerns through legal warnings or reminders regarding security concerns.
Providers For BYOD Programs
In order to make sure that your Bring Your Own Device program is successful, taking specific steps is critical.
Passwords
Employers should require employees to use strong passwords across all of their devices and apps - even ones they do not operate exclusively for work - including devices and applications not related directly to business use.
SSO services could reduce employee workload.
Verifying Data Transfer
Please make sure all transfers of sensitive business information between devices or apps are encrypted and password-protected before proceeding with them.
Likewise, confirm with your business whether they approve this transfer before beginning it.
Privacy
Employers and employees both must maintain respect for privacy. A successful BYOD initiative should outline how employees' privacy will be maintained while also safeguarding company data.
Support And Maintenance
A BYOD policy must inform employees about what kind of IT assistance to expect from their own devices, for instance, ensuring devices remain up-to-date; only specific applications may be used at work or for security.
IT departments will review all new devices before deployment.
Create A Bring Your Own Device Policy
BYOD (bring your own device) has quickly spread throughout global workplaces. Covid-19's rampant spread has further solidified this phenomenon in workplace settings worldwide.
Working from anywhere has never been simpler, enabling employees to use any device of their choosing if properly implemented by your company. Remote working environments offer employees greater convenience while saving your company time and money if implemented successfully.
Embark upon BYOD policy creation should you decide to permit employee use of personal devices within your company for employees to work efficiently and securely using these unique devices.
BYOD policies can either form part of an overall remote work policy or can stand alone as separate documents.
As soon as you have identified and assessed your goals and current policies and evaluated both risks and benefits associated with BYOD use cases, it's time to draft your Bring Your Own Device policy.
Set The Scope
Start by outlining the scope of your Bring Your Own Device policies. Include within that scope which devices and operating systems are allowed and who is accountable for mobile phones used for work-related calls.
Your BYOD Policy can be customized to best serve the needs of your company in whatever ways make sense.
Device Scope
Take into consideration your existing technologies and tools when defining which devices and operating systems can be allowed as part of a BYOD Program.
Can your current setup support Windows-only devices? If not, consider switching over to one which supports more diverse device models instead.
Discover which devices your employees own and their preferences to determine whether your company can support all devices - even more, obscure ones! Providing this data allows you to effectively set policies as well as spot potential problems before they arise.
Rooting and jailbreaking of personal devices should not be permitted as part of an effective monitoring policy. At the same time, an MDM tool must first be used to confirm compliance before being allowed onto your network and accessing resources.
Incorporate into the approach the fact that an MDM tool checks to see whether they meet requirements before connecting. In case any non compliant devices arise, detail how they will be addressed immediately.
Protect Privacy: Separate Personal And Company Data
Privacy should always be at the top of their minds when considering BYOD policies, so use your policy to both address employee worries and secure your company by outlining exactly which devices data monitoring will occur on.
At no point should the organization access or monitor any personal data; to protect employee confidentiality, it should be separated into its buckets and separated accordingly.
When disposing of devices that contain employee-owned information, such as stolen devices or lost devices that must be erased immediately, be mindful that employee personal information could become vulnerable as part of this process.
Add data storage to your BYOD policies by specifying whether data will be saved locally or on the cloud and explain how privacy will be preserved if data is saved locally.
Consider whether an app or data management tool would help distinguish business from personal information. Trust can be earned by showing employees what data they are monitoring and how. Doing this will protect both yourself and the company, as well as user privacy.
Compliance And Security Initiatives
Your policy should outline the device policies that you intend to implement. This will help employees understand what they need to be aware of in terms of other BYOD initiatives for security and compliance.
Some example policies include:
- Requirements for password complexity
- The interval between password changes
- Lock Screen/Session Timeout
- Multi-factor authentication (MFA)
- SSO (single sign-on)
- Remote Wipe
- Least privilege access.
In this section, you can list any policies or devices that your users should be aware of. In this case, explain to users that they will receive a notification if any devices are not registered.
They will also be unable to access your network or data.
Read More: What is the impact of BYOD on enterprise software?
Simple Sign-Up Process
Your organization could run into unexpected issues if employees perceive they must go through excessive steps to receive approval for BYOD devices.
Employees could become frustrated, resorting to using unapproved devices without permission and invading privacy to do their work without ever informing or consulting you first.
Implement the appropriate access policies so employees using unapproved devices do not increase risks and open new attack vectors.
Your BYOD process should allow employees the freedom to choose. At the same time, IT remains proactive in preventing unmanaged devices from connecting to company resources.
Automation can help achieve this. Ask employees to submit brief Bring Your Device requests that include vital details.
Make the setup process as efficient and seamless as possible by employing modern device management tools; establish an onboarding procedure which benefits IT without diminishing user experiences.
Establish Reimbursement Guidelines
Your BYOD policy should reflect your choice regarding reimbursement or non-reimbursement of BYOD-related expenses, so if this decision changes over time, make sure the policy reflects this fact.
When reimbursing employees for BYOD-related items, be clear on exactly what will be refunded, when and in what form. Many organizations pay employee internet costs related to personal devices used at work as well as new device costs associated with buying something new for work use.
Be wary of unexpected costs due to policy oversight or charges for data overages that fall under your responsibility as an organization.
To safeguard against these scenarios, your BYOD policies must clearly outline who pays what costs; your organization, employees or both parties.
Plan Your Ongoing Maintenance
BYOD should never be treated like something you can "set and forget". Routine checks such as security, compliance and tool inspection must continue to take place; policies may need to be altered as technology evolves or additional devices come to market.
Ask employees questions about Bring Your Own Device policies as part of an employee experience survey to assess how they perceive this policy and gain feedback that could improve it further.
This feedback is indispensable when developing or tweaking it further.
It Is Essential To Write Down Your Policy Before Implementing It
Before communicating anything regarding BYOD to employees, it's best to draft out proposed BYOD policies on paper first and check them thoroughly for mistakes or omissions before sending them out to users.
Also, take time to create an initial version that you can modify later as your BYOD strategy develops further.
By employing this strategy, you can avoid miscommunications, extra work or wasteful resources resulting from misguided policies that have undergone significant revisions before implementation.
Keep the length to between one-two pages so employees don't stop reading it halfway through.
Tips For Establishing A Successful BYOD Policy
These tips can assist in creating a BYOD corporate policy that addresses device security, IT service provisioning and usage applications - among many other vital considerations.
Are You Wondering How to Implement a BYOD Program and the Best Approach? Every Bring Your Own Device policy should contain core ideas. When developing the guidelines for Bring Your Own Device programs, make sure your IT staff and executive staff pose plenty of queries for answers.
Specification Of Devices That Are Permitted
Bring Your iPad Only? Employees may bring only their iPad; all other BYOD devices (in addition to corporate ones) must remain with your company.
Be sure they understand this policy as clearly as possible.
Create A Strict Security Policy For All Devices
Passwords and lock screens may be met with resistance by their users, who perceive these restrictions as impediments to easy access to content on devices they own.
But this criticism needs to be revised; such devices contain too much sensitive data for us to allow their operation without proper protections in place.
Your users must agree on a complex and lengthy password to be used with their device. Not only must a strong alphanumeric PIN be utilized, additionally a long, complex password should also be selected and utilized reliably by software.
Consult message administrators regarding device security policies you can enforce using it.
Define Clear Service Policies For Devices That Meet BYOD Criteria
When questions or issues arise with employees' devices, they must understand what the limits are. You'll need to answer these questions to set boundaries.
- How much support is available to help you connect your own devices from the start?
- How will IT support representatives assist with broken devices?
- How about applications on mobile devices?
- Do you plan to limit HelpDesk's use only to email, calendaring, and personal information management applications?
- What happens if you are unable to access the applications you previously designated as being supported because of a personal problem? Does your support essentially consist of a "repair and reinstall" operation?
- Do you offer loaner phones or tablets to employees while they are having their mobile devices repaired?
Read More: Implementing an Enterprise Mobility Solution: Top Four Benefits
Clarify Who Owns What Apps And Data
Although it might seem reasonable for companies to own the information that employees access on their servers, this can present problems when trying to wipe a lost or stolen device.
When brushing, all content is erased - including personal photos and music purchased independently rather than by your company - often permanently and irretrievably lost when wiping is performed.
Do your BYOD plans make clear that they reserve the right to erase devices connected under them? Do employees know how they can back up and secure their content to ensure personal information can be quickly recovered once their device or phone has been replaced? Do your BYOD plans guide so employees know how to secure and back up their content so personal data can be restored once it's a replacement device or phone?
Choose Which Apps Will Be Allowed Or Banned
No matter if it is for personal or corporate use, any device must be compatible with your network. Applications which allow accessing social media pages such as Facebook and Instagram, as well as email replacement apps and VPNs, should always be the top priorities when considering compatibility issues.
Before permitting users to install and run apps that pose a security or legal threat on corporate devices with free access, it is vitally important that these individuals understand whether it would be acceptable.
If the new Twitter app had any security holes that allowed spammers access through iPhone Mail apps to relay email through your company, this is, of course, only hypothetical and must not be taken as fact.
What happens if an instant messaging program with poor design steals the address book of your company? This is a severe risk and should be addressed in any BYOD policy.
Currently, available technology to prevent copyright-infringing media downloads onto phones needs to be more mature, and manual screening may become necessary for eligible users.
Incorporate Your BYOD Plan With Your Acceptable Use Policy
Your business likely already protects corporate phones, desktop computers and notebooks; allowing personal devices to access VPN could introduce some uncertainty regarding which activities are permitted - so to protect all parties involved, it's wiser to create and enforce an acceptable usage policy:
- Is it a crime to set up a VPN on your iPhone and then have employees use Facebook?
- What happens if employees visit objectionable sites while using their VPN on their devices?
- If they accidentally or intentionally transmit inappropriate material to your network using their own device, what happens? Are there any sanctions for this type of activity?
- What tools and strategies are available for monitoring such policies?
- How can you set rules for this area?
Create A Employee Exit Strategy
Do not lose track of what will happen when an employee leaves with their device from your BYOD program, whether or not that includes tokens and data such as email, proprietary apps and applications that must be deleted as they leave.
How will you ensure this occurs effectively?
Employees must do more than return their corporate phones. Instead, companies often turn off email and synchronization as part of exit interviews or HR checklists, with more security-conscious firms wiping BYOD devices before departure for a smooth exit process.
It is essential that before undertaking this "exit wiping", all affected users understand what will take place (backing up personal pictures/app purchases/etc.); reach out and encourage their participation during this "exit wiping" while making it clear to them that IT reserves the right to wipe their device if arrangements have not been made before departure with IT before departing!
BYOD Policy Training: Provide Extensive Training
Employees still tend to use their devices at will despite your best security efforts, increasing cyber-attacks and data breaches.
To combat this risk, provide your staff with extensive training that explains acceptable usage as well as any risks they might encounter - this will equip your team with all of the knowledge required for operating BYOD devices securely and efficiently.
Conduct Regular Data Backups
Should your device get lost, stolen, compromised, or company information be accidentally exposed or erased accidentally, data backup should always be an integral component of a Bring Your Own Device policy.
Create A Clear Reimbursement Policy
Your employer is legally required to reimburse any expenses that occur while at work, such as reimbursement of cell phone data plans or lost/stolen equipment.
When formulating a BYOD policy, consider what costs employees may need to reimburse as well as ways of handling these reimbursements.
Strategize For Device Loss
Devices can quickly become stolen or misplaced; accidents do happen. Though you cannot always prevent device loss or theft, having a plan in place if one goes missing should help mitigate potential fallout.
Installation of software that will securely wipe all employee computers should one be lost/stolen is one way of providing this extra layer of security against data loss from employees' computers in such an instance is one effective strategy.
Use Application Readiness Automation
Automating application readiness testing will keep your devices secure while decreasing the IT department's workload.
Automating these tests could include automatic cross-browser tests or patching BYOD devices when security patches become necessary.
Anti-Malware Technologies Are An Investment
Your staff may be using devices unprotected with anti-malware software. Invest in antivirus protection software to reduce cyber-attack and malware risks on all of their work devices; employees should also be required to utilize such protection on personal devices used at work.
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Conclusion
Effective BYOD policies can save your organization both money and improve employee happiness, increasing productivity while offering greater flexibility.
It is vitally important that software providers comply with your security and accessibility policies to achieve optimal performance from this policy.
Cyber Infrastructure.Inc is an effective communications platform compatible with multiple devices and operating systems, perfect for businesses utilizing BYOD policies that don't need expensive hardware purchases, complicated software installs or infrastructure setup.
Give it a try for yourself today.
