Corporate mobile devices and the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) phenomenon are rapidly circumventing enterprise security and policies, according to a survey.

Over three-quarters (77%) of more than 4,000 respondents in 12 countries agree that the use of mobile devices in the workplace is important to achieving business objectives. But 76 percent also believe that these devices put their organizations at risk -- and only 39 percent have the necessary security controls to address the risk.

"IT has spent years working on desktop security and trying to prevent data loss over web and email channels -- but mobile devices are radically changing the game," said Tom Clare, senior director of Product Marketing Management. "Tablets and iOS devices are replacing corporate laptops as employees bring-their-own-devices to work and access corporate information. These devices open the door to unprecedented loss of sensitive data. IT needs to be concerned about the data that mobile devices access and not the device itself."

According to a previous Ponemon Institute survey, IT respondents said 63 percent of breaches occurred as a result of mobile devices. And only 28 percent said employee desktop computers were the cause.)

The research was conducted by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by content security provider Websense. The research shows that organizations often don't know how and what data is leaving their networks through non-secure mobile devices. Traditional static security solutions such as antivirus (AV), firewalls, and passwords are not effective at stopping advanced malware and data theft threats from malicious or negligent insiders.

Key findings

• Fifty-nine percent of respondents report that employees circumvent or disengage security features, such as passwords and key locks, on corporate and personal mobile devices.
• During the past 12 months, 51 percent of the organizations in this study experienced data loss resulting from employee use of insecure mobile devices, including laptops, smartphones, USB devices, and tablets.
• Seventy-seven percent of respondents agree that the use of mobile devices in the workplace is important to achieving business objectives. A similar percentage (76 percent) believes that these tools put their organizations at risk. Only 39 percent have the necessary security controls to address the risk, and only 45 percent have enforceable policies.
• Insecure mobile devices increase rates of malware infections. Fifty-nine percent of respondents say that over the past 12 months, their organizations experienced an increase in malware infections as a result of insecure mobile devices in the workplace, with another 25 percent unsure.
• Sixty-five percent of respondents are most concerned with employees taking photos or videos in the workplace -- probably due to fears about the theft or exposure of confidential information. Other unacceptable uses include downloading and using internet apps (44 percent) and using personal email accounts (43 percent). Forty-two percent say that downloading confidential data onto devices (USB or Bluetooth) is not acceptable in their organizations.