weathering mobile-storm-report-october-2014
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A mobile storm's a-brewin'! Is your workplace secure? Find out how IT pros are preparing for the influx of devices in this #VoIT report!TRANSCRIPT
Making the Tech Grade: IT pros sound off on the value of IT training. 1You Back, Union Jack? 1
Weathering the Mobile StormHow IT pros navigate a whirlwind of devices, security and monitoring.
O c tober 2014 | #Mobi leStorm
Free IT reports on today’s hottest tech topics and trends.
Sponsored by:
2 Weathering the Mobile Storm: How IT pros navigate a whirlwind of devices, security and monitoring. | #MobileStorm
October 2014 3
TABLE OF CONTENTS
01 BYOD Winds: Picking Up
02 Waiting for Lighting to Strike...
03 Are Users on the MDM Radar?
04 Alert: Seek Adequate Shelter
PAGE 08
PAGE 12
PAGE 16
PAGE 18
05 Details on the DataPAGE 20
4 Weathering the Mobile Storm: How IT pros navigate a whirlwind of devices, security and monitoring. | #MobileStorm
We’ve studied the radar for an in-depth look at
what IT pros are up against (hint: there’s a dense
fog advisory as they attempt to manage an
ever-mobile workforce).
October 2014 5
Is a Mobile Storm Brewing?
An ominous cloud of devices continues to descend upon Tech City. As mobile devices rain down on organizations, how is IT weathering the deluge? And what, exactly, are they dealing with? Are we talking a run-of-the-mill afternoon shower… or a Category 5 beast? We’ve studied the radar for an in-depth look at what IT pros are up against (hint: there’s a dense fog advisory as they attempt to manage an ever-mobile workforce).
How do IT pros think about – and prepare for – mobile security? And what gaps exist in their current policies?
Should they be monitoring employee usage more… or less? And how are users reacting to the possibility of being under a mobile storm watch? So many questions, so many forecasts coming your way.
“The security risks associated with smartphones and tablets are nothing short of scary.”
- Don Reisinger, eWeek 1
6 Weathering the Mobile Storm: How IT pros navigate a whirlwind of devices, security and monitoring. | #MobileStorm
October 2014 7
Survey Information
To get to the eye of the mobile maelstrom, Spiceworks asked 300 IT pros in the US to share how their organizations are currently managing mobile devices and what they’re doing – or not doing – to keep corporate data safe and dry.
We’re seeing mobile devices, including those brought in by employees (BYOD, baby), continue to pour into the workplace. But Bring Your Own Everything (BYOx)… is still a blip on the radar.
IT pros forecast continued mobile device growth, but their security measures aren’t quite in line. While mobile device management (MDM) is the top mobile device security software used by IT pros (followed by malware/antivirus soft-ware) – fewer than half are using or plan to use either type of security software.
User privacy is still mostly intact. Very few IT pros tell us they’re monitoring “every move” users make on their mobile devices. But should they be more… watchful? And what do users have to say about this privacy invasion?
Mobile threats are real, they’re intensifying… and they’re not going away. So what’s the holdup in widespread MDM adoption? Why aren’t we seeing more mobile device security software? Why aren’t more IT pros taking measures to protect mobile devices in the workplace from insidious threats just over the horizon?
Key Findings
1
2
3
“As malicious code for mobile devices begins to generate revenue for malware authors, we can expect the number of threats to grow.”
- BizCommunity.com2
Snap open your umbrella and prepare to find out how your organization measures up against the approaching downpour. Oh, you’d better bring your rain boots too, just in case. It’s a mess out there.
8 Weathering the Mobile Storm: How IT pros navigate a whirlwind of devices, security and monitoring. | #MobileStorm
01BYOD Winds: Picking Up. BYOD-Everything?Not So Much. BYOD continues to spill into the work-place, as almost 90% of respondents indicate employees are bringing at least one device to work… and smartphones and tablets still lead the pack.
Hey, nice Google Glass Eye… or whatever you call that thing. The future has arrived, and it’s sporting tech specs, wireless cuff-links, digital underwear, and who knows what else! A tornado of wearable technol-ogy – smart watches, smart glasses, fitness/health monitors and more – is gathering strength as it swirls toward your network.
At more than 20%, that’s almost eight percentage points higher than Spiceworks wearable tech data from May 2014.3
October 2014 9
Types of Mobile Devices Supported
As far as mobile device numbers, almost 80% of surveyed IT pros support one to two per employee. And that’s more than enough vulnerable data to reshape how IT departments handle the mobile monsoon (unfortunately, this one ain’t seasonal!).
0 20 40 60 80 100
90%
77%
21%
Smartphones
Tablets
Wearables
Number of Mobile Devices Supported
The survey says iOS (46%) leads Android (35%) as the most common
mobile operating system supported in the workplace. However,
Windows (54%) and Android (47%) are perceived as being easier
to monitor than iOS (42%).
0
10
20
30
40
50
34%
6% 5% 3%7%
1 per employee
2 per employee
3 per employee
More than 3 per employee
None Don’t know
45%
10 Weathering the Mobile Storm: How IT pros navigate a whirlwind of devices, security and monitoring. | #MobileStorm
Despite a shifting climate (and a growing number) of employee-owned devices, on average more than half of organizations’ supported devices are company-owned.
Average Percent of Devices in the Workplace
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Employee-owned, company subsidized
Company-owned
Employee-owned
55%
35%
10%
54%27%
47%
Employee-owned
Company-owned
Employee-owned, company subsidized
October 2014 11
Roughly half of respondents forecast that employee- and/or company-owned mobile devices will continue to swirl up in numbers over the next three years. BYOD is still raining cats and dogs in the workplace, but what about BYOx?
Despite lots of media buzz (and a super cool acronym), only a third of IT pros report employees bringing in their own applications, encryption, networks, etc.
54%27%
47%
Employee-owned
Company-owned
Employee-owned, company subsidized
Percent of IT Pros Anticipating an Increase in Mobile Devices
12 Weathering the Mobile Storm: How IT pros navigate a whirlwind of devices, security and monitoring. | #MobileStorm
02Waiting for the Lightning to Strike... Naturally, more mobile devices mean more mobile threats. And while consumer devices may not be as at risk, industry experts believe that mobile malware is on the rise, especially for mobile devices in the workplace.4 After all, the lightning bolts of data theft are pretty much aimed at sensitive company data on unsecured mobile devices. So you’d think IT pros would be keeping up in terms of mobile security, right? Think again…
Sure, most IT pros surveyed have rules about what types of devices can connect to which networks. But almost a quarter say they have no formal mobile device policy in place.
And to extend the mobile weather meta-phor even more: That’s sort of like having no evacuation route in place when real disaster strikes.
Varying degrees of mobile policy
“Malware concerns are more acute in the workplace, where people increasingly bring their own devices and use them for conducting business.”
- Molly Wood, The New York Times3
October 2014 13
Corporate Network Access Policies
What corporate data do IT pros allow users to access on their mobile devices? Almost all allow access to email/calen-dar/contacts, but many board up the windows from there.
The numbers drop below half for other types of corporate data such as company file-sharing accounts (e.g. Dropbox, Box, etc.), company mobile apps/software, and secure network resources.
Access To Corporate Assets
0
20
40
60
80
100
Email/Calendar/Contacts
Company�le-sharing
accounts(e.g., Dropbox)
Company mobile
apps/software
Secure network
resources
96%
44% 42%33%
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
28%
25%
24%
22%
1%
We allow employee-owned BYOD devices to connect on a separate guest network
We allow employee and company-owned/subsidized devices on the corporate network
We allow company-owned devices only on the corporate network
We don't have a formal policy
Don’t know
14 Weathering the Mobile Storm: How IT pros navigate a whirlwind of devices, security and monitoring. | #MobileStorm
If there’s nothing to see (or hear), there’s nothing to fear. Consider it the “duck-un-der-the-covers-and-hope-the-thunder-goes-away” approach. It looks like IT pros might be limiting access to corporate data in lieu of relying on mobile device security software or formal MDM policies.
That may be why less than half of respondents use or even plan to use MDM software within the next 12 months. Unfortunately, where there’s thunder… there’s lightning.
Mobile security measures? I’ve heard of those…
Types of Mobile Device Security Software Used or Planned to Use
0 10 20 30 40 50
15%
16%
22%
41%
MDM
Antivirus/malware software
Central management
Data protection
Data loss prevention
49%
14%
8%
6%
2%
9%
19%
Application control
EMM
Secure container
Other
None
Don’t know
October 2014 15
In all fairness, it’s not like IT pros are unaware of the risks. Almost all respondents (98%) report some level of concern with mobile security. In fact, security (including compliance and threats) is reported as the top challenge when managing mobile devices for most IT pros surveyed:
Why, then, do a number of IT pros appear to be standing in the middle of an open field… waiting for the lightning to strike? Many say the cost of mobile device security is prohibitive given the size of their organization. Others say management is not yet onboard. And still others just don’t view mobile security as necessary. Let’s hear it straight from real IT pros:
• “There just aren’t enough threats to mobile devices out there that warrant the time and headache of managing mobile security software.”
• “The cost is substantial and finding the budgets for these solutions is difficult. We’ll have to work with what we’ve got, for now. ”
• “We don’t use mobile device security because too many other things are bigger issues; we haven’t yet experienced a problem with mobile security to cause it to be a higher priority.”
Top Mobile Device Management Challenges
Category1 2 3 4 5Ca
tegory
Category
Category
Category
MPH: 74-95 96-110 110-130 131-155 156+
SURGE: 4-5 FT. 6-8 FT. 9-12 FT. 13-18 FT. 18+ FT.
Security compliance/requirements
Security breaches/threats
Increased help desk calls/support time
Enforcement of end-user policies
Security compliance/requirements
16 Weathering the Mobile Storm: How IT pros navigate a whirlwind of devices, security and monitoring. | #MobileStorm
03Are Users On the MDM Radar?
The issue of user privacy seems to be enjoying the calm before the storm. It turns out that very few IT pros (4%) monitor all their users’ mobile activity.
In fact, more than two-thirds report monitoring “very little” to no mobile device usage.
Approach To Mobile Device Monitoring
0
10
20
30
40
50
45%
23%
4%
23%
5%
We monitorevery move
We monitor major stu� like installing apps
and connecting to cloud services
We monitor very little
We don’t monitoremployee mobile
device usage
Don’t know/No comment
October 2014 17
Why not? As one IT pro explains, “We con-tainerize the company usage – and have the ability to wipe the mobile device in case of theft or loss – but we do not monitor usage as these devices may be for personal use as well.”
While others echo the sentiment that it seems too intrusive to monitor employee- owned devices, less than half (46%) of IT pros surveyed report reluctance from their users toward allowing MDM software on their devices. But it’s likely only a matter of time before the sprinkling of mobile privacy issues… escalates into a torrent.
We asked survey respondents to share com-mon concerns regarding MDM. Fears range from “big brother” to draining batteries:
• “Mainly a feeling of lost privacy on their own devices.”
• “It’s their device, they want to be in con-trol.”
• “They fear ‘big brother’ in our overworked and undermanned IT team.”
• “Where do you draw the line between per-sonal ownership and company intrusion?”
• “They are afraid we can see everything they do. They also are afraid of us being able to wipe their phones, and have heard horror stories about it!”
Maybe the real question is: Should IT pros keep user devices within their scope?
“Obviously, users want to make sure that their private infor-mation stays that way, private! However, after explaining the need for certain security mea-sures, most understand – and I always give the option to use a company-owned device if they are reluctant.”
- Spiceworks IT pro and survey respondent3
18 Weathering the Mobile Storm: How IT pros navigate a whirlwind of devices, security and monitoring. | #MobileStorm
04Alert: Seek Adequate Shelter
While the tidal wave of BYOD in the work-place continues to surge – a directional trend that shows no signs of weakening – mobile security measures are not quite ready to surf the swell.
In the words of a surveyed respondent, “We haven’t gotten around to implementing mobile security yet… many projects have been shuffled back by the powers that be. Until, of course, something happens to move it back to the front burner – then it will be an emergency.”
There are many factors leading to the lack of prep, but it won’t be long before IT pros will need to brace themselves and confront the storm - head-on. Integrating MDM and mobile security solutions into the workplace will likely become unavoidable at some point.
As more and more organizations embrace a mobile workforce (increased flexibility and higher productivity, anyone?), the next step is clear: Protect against a developing storm of mobile threats, the kind that tend to follow in the wake of emerging technology.
October 2014 19
BREAK GLASS
MOBILE SECURITY
PRESS HERE
20 Weathering the Mobile Storm: How IT pros navigate a whirlwind of devices, security and monitoring. | #MobileStorm
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Industry (Top 12 industries shown)
Details on the Data
Healthcare
7%7%
3%6% 3%4% 4%4%
Consulting
7%
Government
10%
Education Non-Pro�t Finance
SoftwareConstruction Engineering
13%
IT Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing
Transportation
October 2014 21
Region
Company Size
1-19
17%
20-99
32%100-249
22%
250-499
13%
500-999
5%
1,000 or more
11%
22 Weathering the Mobile Storm: How IT pros navigate a whirlwind of devices, security and monitoring. | #MobileStorm
This report was sponsored by Samsung.
About Samsung Telecommunications America
Samsung Telecommunications America, LLC, (Samsung Mobile) a Dallas-based subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., researches, develops and markets wireless handsets, wireless infrastructure and other telecommunications products throughout North America. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.
About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in technology, opening new possibilities for people everywhere. Through relentless innovation and discovery, we are transforming the worlds of TVs, smartphones, tablets, PCs, cameras, home appliances, printers, LTE systems, medical devices, semiconductors and LED solutions.
October 2014 23
The contents in this report are a result of primary research performed by Spiceworks. Unless otherwise noted, the entire contents distributed as part of this report are copyrighted by Spiceworks. As such any information made available by any means in this report may not be copied, reproduced, duplicated, published, displayed, transmitted, distributed, given, sold, traded, resold, marketed, offered for sale, modified to create derivative works or otherwise exploited for valuable consideration without prior written consent by Spiceworks. For more information visit www.spiceworks.com/voice-of-it/terms.
This report contains information of fact relating to parties other than Spiceworks. Although the information has been obtained from, and is based on sources that Spiceworks believes to be reliable, Spiceworks does not guarantee the accuracy, and any such information might be incomplete or condensed. Any estimates included in this report constitute Spiceworks’ judgment as of the date of compilation, and are subject to change without notice. This report is for information purposes only. All responsibility for any interpretations or actions based on the information or commentary contained within this report lie solely with the recipient. All rights reserved. 2014.
About Spiceworks Voice of IT®
The Spiceworks Voice of IT market insights program publishes stats, trends and opinions collected from technology professionals that are among the more than 5 million users of Spiceworks. Survey panelists opt-in to answer questions on technology trends important to them. To find out more about our research capabilities, email [email protected].
About Spiceworks
Spiceworks is the professional network more than 5 million IT professionals use to connect with one another and over 3,000 technology brands. The company simplifies how IT professionals discover, buy and manage more than $525 billion in technology products and services each year. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Spiceworks is backed by Adams Street Partners, Austin Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Goldman Sachs, Shasta Ventures and Tenaya Capital. For more information visit www.spiceworks.com
For more information visit: For other Spiceworks Voice of IT reports visit: www.spiceworks.com www.spiceworks.com/marketing/resources/
Voice of IT ®
Sources:
1 Don Reisinger, “10 Mobile Security Issues That Should Worry You,” eWeek, February 11, 2014. http://www.eweek.
com/mobile/slideshows/10-mobile-security-issues-that-should-worry-you.html/
2 “Mobile device malware a growing threat to smartphone users,” BizCommunity.com, July 17, 2013. http://www.
bizcommunity.com/Article/196/542/96787.html
3 Compared to US-only data. Spiceworks Voice of IT Report, “The Devices are Coming! How the ‘Internet of Things’
will affect IT… and why resistance is futile,” Spiceworks, May 2014. http://www.spiceworks.com/voit/reports/the-de-
vices-are-coming/
4 Molly Wood, “Mobile Malware: Small Numbers, but Growing,” The New York Times, October 1, 2014. http://www.
nytimes.com/2014/10/02/technology/personaltech/mobile-malware-small-numbers-but-growing.html?_r=0
Illustrations:
Clarice Jenkins, Designer, Spiceworks
24 Spiceworks VoIT Report: March 2014 | #ITTraining