A new study has found that those in charge of IT management in the UK are failing to keep tabs on the various mobile and portable devices which are used within a given business or organisation, increasing the risks of data loss or theft.
Seventy-five per cent of respondents to a survey conducted by Absolute Software, said that within larger businesses they could not reliably give the precise location of their laptops at a given time. Within SMEs (small and medium-size enterprises) this figure was at the 50 per cent mark.
Sixty-five per cent of those questioned said that they had at one point or another lost or mislaid their mobiles. This is said to show that it is becoming increasingly difficult for IT managers to track and monitor the usage of portable devices, as they are more prolifically employed across businesses of all sizes.
Absolute Software’s Dave Everitt, said that an overall improvement to the management of IT assets was clearly a necessity in the majority of businesses and organisations, to help prevent data loss or theft of mobile devices.
Mr Everitt continued by saying that there was a greater reliance on mobile and portable devices to help increase productivity within businesses in both a working and home environment. He said that this proliferation of portable devices capable of storing sensitive data, meant that IT managers would need to increase their awareness of not only where employees are using such devices, but also how they are being used to avoid disaster.
Forty-four per cent of respondents revealed that the use of both PC and Mac technology, meant that in many cases it was impossible to track both platforms when in use on a single network.
Various significant statistics relating to the loss of portable and mobile devices from within big businesses and organisations, have been released in recent times, with the BBC, The Ministry of Justice and others forced to admit large losses, because of requests put in under the Freedom of Information Act.
