According to a new BT study, UK businesses are not taking adequte measures against mobile security breaches. This is despite 41% of firms having had experienced mobile data breaches during the past 12 months, with a fifth of respondents being hit with more than four incidents.
The study found that businesses are not implementing the required security measures to defend themselves against mobile threats, including lost or stolen devices and malware infections.
BT Security president Mark Hughes said: "Today’s threat landscape shifts very quickly so it is important for organisations to start with security in mind, rather than add it as an afterthought.
"This will ensure that security processes develop with them, and not after them. This makes the task of being security-led much more straightforward.
Lack of management around BYOD or corporately owned personally enabled (COPE) devices turn out to be a major concern.
Only a third of survey respondents had an official BYOD policy, with 10% of them still not implementing password protection and several claiming that security training is not universal across the organisation.
Furthermore, the report highlights that 33% of personal or corporate owned mobile devices can have full access to internal networks or sensitive client data, with a third of organisations not having any type of active mobile security policy.
Staff approaches tend to be the major threat to data security, with 81% of those surveyed not considering security of devices seriously and 69% not believing that their CEO regards security very seriously.
Hughes added: "If CEOs are passionate about making security practices work, then these will inevitably become an intrinsic part of people’s lives.
"Problems usually arise when people don’t understand the risks and the impact that neglecting security could cause for the business, as well as for them personally.
"A security breach could cause a share price drop and reputational brand damage. This means that security is everyone’s job."
