From now until April 15, the National Institute of Standards and Technology is accepting comments on recent revisions to its new BYOD security guidelines. This was actually part of a larger series of advisories referring to telework and remote access: Part of the draft suggests that organizations distinguish between these different types, with some at a higher level of risk than others.
While BYOD shares some characteristics with other forms of remote access, the second revision of the draft notes, it could result in "malicious traffic" that affects an organization's standing. NIST's solution is an external, secured network for BYOD devices, which keeps these less secure devices from a direct connection to the main network.
"BYOD shares some characteristics with other forms of remote access."
In January, Tech Pro Research announced a report looking at the state of BYOD and other trends. Nearly 60 percent of the 206 respondents surveyed by that source currently allowed employees to work on their personal devices. The source's senior editor Teena Maddox pointed out the specific details about which companies are taking a BYOD approach and why it benefits them.
"The research report revealed that there are several potential benefits to allowing BYOD, such as lowered equipment and service plan costs and reduced device support, not to mention how employees are often more content to use devices they're familiar with and have some flexibility in their equipment choices," Maddox wrote. She also noted that companies with 50 employees or fewer made up more of those disposed to BYOD use.
As the NIST rule undergoes more deliberation, businesses have the chance to work toward a higher degree of BYOD compliance with up-to-date terminal emulation tools. A web-based solution can work well with a strategic BYOD plan because it doesn't involve individual licensing and encourages consistent access across the enterprise.