Transport for London (TfL) has increased its issues of mobile devices to staff, with tablet use at work nearly doubling in two years, according to research.
New figures from Veracode, released under Freedom of Information legislation, found that the public sector transport provider issued 3,500 tablets last year compared to 1,766 in 2012.
The increase in mobile phone issuance was less dramatic but still marked; 23,459 were distributed in 2014, showing an increase of 48 percent from 2010 when 15,935 devices were issued.
The surge in enterprise mobility at the transport company is part of its push for modernisation, which has also controversially involved the closing of ticket offices.
Chris Wysopal, co-founder, CISO and CTO at Veracode, commented on TfL’s adoption:
"Equipping workers with the latest mobile devices will help improve commuter experience and streamline day-to-day administrative activity across London’s transport infrastructure.
"While TfL is leading the way in embracing the latest technologies, it should also ensure that rigorous security measures are put in place to reduce risk from mobile malware and unsafe applications. Cybercriminals relentlessly target mobile applications to steal sensitive data and spy on mobile users.
"As a result, it is now becoming a best practice for organisations to implement mobile device management (MDM) systems – powered by continuously-updated security intelligence about unsafe and malicious mobile apps – to enforce security and privacy policies on their employee’s devices in order to keep cyber-attackers out."
