Security pros are concerned – particularly in the age of consumerization – that as more businesses examine consumer devices and BYOD/BYOC (Bring Your Own Device/Computer), many aren’t using the same rigor as when they were using desktops and laptops. There’s a more significant trust level than before, and it’s unfounded.
“I’m somewhat on the fence... we all know it’s going to happen... it’s a question of when organizations embrace it,” said
Bruce Michelson, distinguished technologist at HP and the
author of a book on lifecycle planning. “They need to bring the infrastructure in the back end to absorb BYOD.”
He sees virtualization and the cloud as the two key enablers.
“The entire point of consumerization is you want it device agnostic. You want ubiquitous networking, use of social media, and to deal with IT only from a standpoint that what you do is totally sanctioned,” he said.
“When you look at virtualization and cloud it forces you into a dialog on user segmentation. How are users accessing the data? It forces you to see data as the asset.”
The second thing is that it introduces brand new economics, as you look at putting data under the auspices of IT.
“I’m going to give them data-less devices. I’m less concerned about the access method, because I’ve done everything within the firewall.”
