PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WatchDox, a provider of secure mobile productivity and collaboration solutions, today announced the results of the Ponemon Institute’s 2013 The Risk of Regulated Data on Mobile Devices study. The report focuses on the risks associated with employee access to regulated data, such as protected health and financial information, via company or personal mobile devices and how this affects a business’ ability to comply with privacy and data protection laws. The research reveals that more than 80 percent of the 798 IT professionals surveyed did not know how much of their organizations’ regulated data is stored on cloud file sharing services or mobile devices – creating significant risk and compliance issues. Most organizations also had weak controls in place to protect regulated data on mobile devices, with 73 percent relying on manual policies and few utilizing mobile device management (12 percent), mobile digital rights management (6 percent) or mobile application management (4 percent) tools.
The study also highlighted substantial compliance gaps. For example, 67 percent of respondents said their organizations must comply with U.S. and state privacy and data breach laws. However, only 18 percent are aware that these laws specify the protection of regulated data on mobile devices, including employees’ personal devices used for work purposes. This lack of knowledge can lead to costly mobile data breaches. On average, organizations represented in the study experienced almost five mobile device-related data loss incidents in the past two years, resulting in the breach of an estimated 6,000 individual records.
The Ponemon Institute survey results also state that regulated data on mobile devices and in the cloud is at risk because organizations do not:
– Know how much regulated data is on mobile devices used by
employees or transferred to cloud-based file sharing applications;
–
Prevent employees from accessing regulated data using unsecured
mobile devices;
– Make mobile data protection a top priority;
–
Take steps to monitor employees who access and use regulated data on
mobile devices;
– Ensure employees are aware of the
importance of protecting regulated data on mobile devices. Respondents
also believe that most employees, at one time or another, have
circumvented or disabled required security settings on their mobile
devices; and
– Have the necessary oversight or governance
practices in place.
“Regulated data isn’t subject to a lower standard of protection just because it ends up on a mobile device,” said Ryan Kalember, chief product officer at WatchDox. “This study clearly shows that IT departments must understand the risks and be more proactive to accommodate mobile productivity while still protecting the organization’s data.”
View the 2013 The Risk of Regulated Data on Mobile Devices whitepaper here.
For more information on WatchDox:
– WatchDox company blog: http://bit.ly/YJm1jr
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WatchDox on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/ZxQ14n
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WatchDox on Twitter: http://bit.ly/10eGL2C
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WatchDox on LinkedIn: http://linkd.in/YEug6g
About Ponemon Institute
The Ponemon Institute is dedicated to advancing responsible information and privacy management practices in business and government. To achieve this objective, the Institute conducts independent research, educates leaders from the private and public sectors and verifies the privacy and data protection practices of organizations in a variety of industries.
About WatchDox
WatchDox enables organizations to share, control and work with files wherever they go: on any tablet, smartphone, or PC, even those beyond the IT department’s control. With WatchDox technology, organizations can collaborate securely with partners, safely adopt bring-your-own-device (BYOD) initiatives, and destroy their files remotely at any time. More than 500 enterprises worldwide – including top-10 financial institutions, government agencies and many of the Fortune 500 – depend on WatchDox secure file-sharing solutions. For more information, please visit http://www2.watchdox.com.
