Companies could be leaving themselves open to potentially serious security threats as a result of the growing use of corporate mobile devices by employees, according to research.
Experts who examined mobile phones returned by the employees of one Fortune 500 company found that they were able to retrieve large amounts of sensitive corporate and personal information from the devices.
The data yielded by the study of 32 handsets included a number of items that could cause "significant security risks", the research team at the University of Glasgow said.
The loss of such information from mobile phones or other devices like tablets and laptops could lead to the leakage of valuable intellectual property or expose the company to legal conflicts, it was claimed.
Researchers said the study, although limited in size, was an "important step" in proving that the increasing use of mobile devices in the workplace could be jeopardising security and compromising data protection laws.
They suggested that the current policies which govern data security are not keeping pace with the growth of smartphone use in the corporate world.
The study also highlighted that a "substantial amount" of personal information could be retrieved from work phones and devices, potentially putting personal security at risk.
Dr Brad Glisson, director of the computer forensics and e-discovery MSc programme at the university, said: "This study indicates relatively featureless mobile phones are putting organisations at significant potential risk.
"The amount of corporate information involved is potentially substantial considering that the study targeted low-end phones."
He added: "This exploratory case study clearly demonstrates the need for appropriate policies and guidelines governing use, security and investigation of these devices as part of an overall business model."
The study was published in the Association for Information Systems journal.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article