Organizations unprepared for iPhone security threat

A new survey conducted by Vanson Bourne reveals that companies are failing to appreciate the risks attached to iPhone use among employees. The survey quizzed senior IT decision-makers in medium-to-large firms on their attitude towards the security threat posed by the iPhone.

The survey revealed that while 65 per cent of IT decision makers recognised that unauthorized users could access valuable company data through the iPhone, 64 per cent said they had not taken any steps to secure company data against this threat.

Given the high number of companies with inadequate protection against data breaches via an iPhone, the survey also revealed that 40 per cent of businesses knowingly allow staff to download company data onto removable devices without any security provision.

“We know that the consumerisation of corporate IT is an increasing problem for IT departments. The amount of removable and mobile memory-enabled devices that employees have on their person at any one time is now quite considerable – be it a USB stick or an iPhone. Therefore, we were very surprised to see that most companies were not prepared for this threat,” said Sacha Chahrvin, managing director at DeviceLock UK.