India is not really an abode for BYOD

India is certainly not the best place in the world as far as the acceptance of ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) is concerned. BYOD is a business policy which allows employees to bring their personal mobile computing devices to work places and connect those on corporate network.

According to a recent survey by Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), India stood first among its global counterparts in prohibiting BYOD, with nearly half (46%) of Indian enterprises successfully deploying a BYOD policy to prohibit the use of personal mobile devices for work to mitigate the risk to the enterprises. This number was 30% in China, 29% in the US and 39% in Europe.

ISACA is a nonprofit global association of more than 100,000 IT audit, security, risk and governance professionals. The survey is based on online polling of 4,512 ISACA members belonging to 83 countries, including 305 members in India in September this year. A separate online survey was also fielded among 1,224 US consumers between 8-10 October, 2012.

Interestingly, the survey also found that even the IT professionals in India also continue to remain resistant to the BYOD trend. More than half (56%) of the IT professionals participated in the survey reported that the risks of BYOD outweigh the benefits.

Regarding security controls for employees’ personal devices, nearly half (47%) of Indian enterprises said they have deployed password management controls as a security layer compared to China and Europe (44%) and the US (42%).

India also registered lower interest on remote wipe capability (29%) compared to US (46 percent), China (39%) and Europe (37%). Remote wipe capability allows employers to erase the contents of an employee’s personal device as a security measure.

The survey also found that the prohibition by enterprises to access social networking sites from work-supplied devices is the highest in India when compared with other geographies. About 58% of the respondents in India said their enterprises prohibit to access social networking sites from work devices as compared 19% in China, 20% in the US and 21% in Europe.

Additionally, 45% of Indian respondents reported that their enterprises prohibit its employees from shopping online using work-supplied devices whereas enterprises in Europe (21%), US (20%) and China (19%) are more permissive.

“The survey results are an eye opener and present an interesting dichotomy from the governance of IT perspective of Indian enterprises compared to its global counterparts,” said Avinash Kadam, ISACA’s India Task Force advisor commenting on the survey findings.

“It is always a challenge to retrieve an enterprise’s data when an employee who uses a personal device for work purpose leaves the company. It is imperative to structure a clear policy for BYOD,” he added.