Let’s face it: Work-from-home and hybrid work is here to stay. Your company has a decision to make – Should you let your employees work using their own computers or issue company-owned and managed devices for them to work with?
What are the cost differences and cybersecurity risks? Should the same rules apply to all employees, or are there exceptions to be made?
In this blog, we’ll dive into the pros and cons of personal versus corporate devices and the cybersecurity implications of each.
Pros of Corporate Devices for Remote Work
For starters, corporate devices are more secure than personal devices. Corporate devices have a variety of cybersecurity protections enabled and deployed, such as quality anti-virus, spam filters, and remote monitoring (to name a few). We don’t have security protections on personal devices. It’s simply not as secure if your kids or anyone else uses the same device for personal activity as you do to conduct work.
Secondly, with corporate devices, your cybersecurity team always has the ability to remotely wipe the device should the device get lost or stolen. Data is one of an organization’s greatest assets, and corporate devices give you greater protection over that sensitive data. If you regularly back up your data on your corporate device and have cybersecurity protections in place, losing such a device is only an inconvenience, not a major threat to your company’s cybersecurity.
Cons of Corporate Devices for Remote Work
The cons? There aren’t many. Other than cost, there is no negative to having your employees using corporate devices at home.
Some employees perceive a loss of privacy by being forced to use a corporate device while working remotely. It’s true: corporate devices signify a greater level of control and monitoring compared to private personal devices. However, this should be limited to company-relevant security and device management. Employees should be encouraged to use personal devices for personal browsing.
Corporate Device Management
At Clarity Technology Group, we advise all of our clients to require employees to use corporate devices if they are working remotely. The pros are many, and the cons are few. From a cybersecurity perspective, it is the only logical solution.
Regardless, it’s essential that you tailor your cybersecurity approach to your specific company and employee’s needs and ensure effective training and transparency from top to bottom.
Need help crafting a cybersecurity plan specific to your business? Clarity Technology Group can help. Get in touch with our team here.