WOBURN, MA – September 23, 2014 — /BackupReview.info/ — According to a Kaspersky Lab survey of 3,900 IT professionals worldwide, very small businesses (VSBs) with fewer than 25 employees have the same rate of mobile device adoption as large enterprises. However, most VSBs lack the security awareness, technical expertise and budget needed to properly protect company-issued or employee-owned mobile devices.

Mobile Adoption Surge in Very Small Businesses
When the Kaspersky Lab survey asked about IT challenges encountered over the previous 12 months, 34% of VSBs said they had managed the integration of mobile devices into their business. What’s noteworthy is this rate is nearly identical to the rate of mobile integration reported by enterprises, which was 35%. This means the smallest companies in the world are adopting mobile technology at essentially the same rate as huge companies with more than 5,000 employees. In fact, VSBs actually reported a higher rate of mobile adoption than small businesses with 26-99 employees, as well as large businesses with 1,500-5,000 employees. VSBs reported 6% more mobile integration than small businesses (defined as 26-99 employees), and 2% more than large businesses (defined as 1,500-5,000 employees). These statistics certainly cast doubt on any perceptions that VSBs are confined to antiquated technology or slow to invest in IT.

Mobile technology may not be restricted to businesses based on their size, but there are other key factors to consider. Expertise and resources are the most obvious limitations of VSBs, which frequently don’t have dedicated IT staff to manage technology implementations. These limitations may lead to a knowledge gap even amongst security-minded business owners. For example, 31% of VSBs listed “Securing Mobile/Portable Computing Devices” as one of their top-three IT security priorities for the next 12 months (a rate comparable to the 34% adoption rate from the previous 12 months). But when asked about BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies, where employees use their own mobile devices for business purposes, the survey uncovered a perception-gap based on company size.

When surveying attitudes towards technology trends, 28% of VSBs agreed that BYOD introduces an increased IT security risk to their business. But large businesses and enterprises had a response rate that was nearly twice the VSB response, with 52% and 48% respectively agreeing about the risks presented by BYOD. Is it possible that VSBs are overlooking employee-owned mobile devices as a security risk? This seems like a particularly troubling possibility, given that VSBs and their limited budgets are most likely to view employee-owned devices as a cost-savings measure and gladly welcome these devices onto their networks. Common threats from employee-owned mobile devices include malware or rouge applications connecting to the company’s network via the employee’s device, or company data disappearing along with a lost or stolen employee device.

Steps for Mobile Security on a Budget
Realizing that most VSBs lack the budget and technical sophistication for advanced mobile security solutions, small businesses can still use mobile technology – including employee-owned devices – without a huge investment of time or money. A mixture of common-sense and the right technology can go a long way to securing mobile devices, and help the owners of a startup get back to running their business. A few tips to accomplish this goal include:

1) Employee Education: the first lines of protecting your business data are employees with security mindsets. Make sure new employees know that if their smartphones or tablets contain workplace information, that device shouldn’t be subjected to unnecessarily risky usage habits (e.g., browsing questionable websites), and if the device is lost or stolen, it should be reported immediately to the employer, not days later.

2) Basic Anti-Theft: an inexpensive piece of software that can remotely-wipe the data from missing or stolen devices is essential. Some devices offer similar functions built-in, and there are many third-party applications that can accomplish this task. But make sure an employee understands that if their device is wiped, that typically means any personal information on the device is deleted as well.

3) Avoid Complexity: a newly-created startup business with five employees can’t spend hours purchasing, deploying, and managing a business-grade security product that wasn’t built for their purposes. Avoid purchasing a larger product than the business needs, and stick to core mobile security features.

Kaspersky Lab includes essential mobile protection features, including anti-malware, application verification and anti-theft within its Kaspersky Small Office Security product, which was designed specifically for VSBs. Kaspersky Small Office Security gives basic administration tools for mobile devices, data encryption and endpoint security in a consumer-friendly interface that can be set up in minutes. To learn more about Kaspersky Small Office Security, please visit the Kaspersky Lab website. To learn more about Kaspersky Lab’s mobile security technology, please the Kaspersky Security for Mobileproduct page, and read our “Dummies Guide” for mobile security and BYOD.

About Kaspersky Lab
Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions. The company is ranked among the world’s top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users*. Throughout its more than 17-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for large enterprises, SMBs and consumers. Kaspersky Lab, with its holding company registered in the United Kingdom, currently operates in almost 200 countries and territories across the globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide. Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.

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Media Contact
Stephen Russell
781.503.1833
stephen.russell@kaspersky.com

* The company was rated fourth in the IDC rating Worldwide Endpoint Security Revenue by Vendor, 2012. The rating was published in the IDC report “Worldwide Endpoint Security 2013–2017 Forecast and 2012 Vendor Shares (IDC #242618, August 2013). The report ranked software vendors according to earnings from sales of endpoint security solutions in 2012.

Source: Kaspersky

 

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