Using mobile devices in the workforce has grown in popularity. However, some organizations haven’t jumped to purchasing those devices. Some employees, either out of need or convenience, have used an alternate route in that they bring their own device (BYOD) to work. This brings up some security concerns. To address this, AT&T says it has the answer for corporations that want to let employees access work applications from personal phones without becoming a security threat.

Information Security and BYOD

According to a post on Ars Technica, AT&T has developed a new virtualization-style technology (Toggle) that works on both Android and iPhones, which creates a work container that is isolated from an employee’s personal applications and data, letting IT shops manage just the portion of the phone related to work.

You can learn more about Toggle by reading AT&T Splits Phones into Work and Personal Partitions, On Any Carrier posted by Ars Technica.

Of course, you should also keep in mind that you should develop a policy and procedures as it pertains to data on portable devices, whether owned by the company or not. Our white paper ( Securing Mobile Devices) addresses the risks associated with the relatively new phenomena surrounding the introduction of corporate-owned data on portable devices, currently known by buzzwords such as mobile computing, mobile devices, mobile technology, etc.

Posted by:
Sean Waugh, CISSP, MCSA
Network Administrator
Lead Technical Auditor
infotex