Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Bring your own device (BYOD) has become a common practice in the workplace, particularly as more teams adopt remote and hybrid models. Instead of relying solely on company-issued hardware, employees use their personal devices to work from virtually anywhere. While BYOD can improve flexibility, productivity, and cost-efficiency, it also comes with a unique set of security challenges that organizations need to address.

In this article, you'll learn what BYOD means, why it introduces security concerns, and how you can mitigate risks while maintaining productivity. You'll also learn how 1Password Device Trust can help organizations securely adopt BYOD and ensure convenience doesn't come at the expense of data protection.

What is BYOD?

BYOD, or bring your own device, is a policy that allows employees to use personal devices to access your organization’s networks, resources, and information. Devices can include everything from a smartphone for checking work emails or messages to personal computers for everyday work activity. 

Supporting BYOD can offer significant cost savings versus the continuous cycle of buying, issuing, repairing, and replacing devices. It can increase onboarding efficiency: There’s no shipping arrangements to be made or transit times (or missed deliveries), and you eliminate a significant learning curve for new employees who may otherwise need to adjust to an unfamiliar operating system. BYOD may also increase productivity by making access to work-related resources easier and more convenient. 

While there are many benefits to BYOD, the practice also introduces a variety of security risks including data leakage, malware, unauthorized access, and the use of unsanctioned apps.

Why is security important for BYOD?

BYOD can present significant security issues for your organization due to the increased attack surface created by the unmonitored and uncontrolled devices.

Unauthorized access is one of the most fundamental problems presented by BYOD. In short, you can’t control who else has physical access to the device. It may be a shared family computer or a tablet that’s passed to the kids after work. Either way, your sensitive and confidential resources may still be accessible to people other than your employees. Speaking of unauthorized access: Unmanaged devices can’t be wiped if they’re lost or stolen.

It’s also more difficult to limit viruses and malware on employee-owned devices. When you don’t control the devices, you rely on your team members to update promptly and apply appropriate security patches. It’s inevitable that some will be lax about installing updates which opens windows of opportunity for any lingering vulnerabilities to be exploited.

Clear policies and procedures, strong password and encryption requirements, and employee awareness training are some basic must-haves, but true security comes from using tools like 1Password Device Trust, MDM (mobile device management), and MAM (mobile application management).

How does BYOD relate to 1Password?

1Password Device Trust allows you to enforce policies on employee-owned devices without making those employees feel as though you’re invading their privacy.

With 1Password’s Device Trust, only trusted devices can access your company resources. The Device Trust agent can operate in places other tools can’t, like unmanaged BYOD and contractor devices. You can block insecure devices from authenticating while empowering your people to fix compliance issues with step-by-step self-remediation guidance.

If you implement the right tools and foster a strong culture of security, you can safely adopt BYOD by striking the right balance between flexibility and security.