BYOD

I thought I'd take a moment to give my opinion on BYOD (Bring Your Own Device).  I do not agree with BYOD in the workplace.  I don't see what advantages it brings.  Personal electronic devices have no place on a corporate network.  I can't even begin to imagine the types of security holes and malware infestations that end users would be connecting to the network.

It's obvious the reasons why an IT department would not want this.  There are certainly any number of risks associated with plugging in devices that you have no control over.  There may be severely out of date software on these devices, malware, and who knows what other security risks.  However, I also can't see why end users would want this. 

If you need a smartphone, tablet, etc. to do your job efficiently, then these things should be provided by your place of business.  You should never have to spend your hard earned cash on tools needed to perform your job.  If your employer refuses to give you the tools you need, then maybe it's time to look for another place of employment. 

Personally, I have always maintained a line between my personal and my professional life.  In the past, when I was told that I needed to join a conference call from home, my response was that they needed to provide me with a phone or I would not be joining that meeting.  The result was that I got a company issued phone.  There's a difference between being outright insubordinate and protecting your own assets. 

I do sometimes feel bad for those people who just prefer to use their own devices at work.  Because for every one of those people, there are a dozen others who would just use this as an excuse to play games or socialize all day instead of working on a presumably unmonitored device.

So if you're an end user who has been nagging your IT department to allow you to use your own device, please try to understand why they are telling you "no".  It's not because they want to feel powerful by telling you what you can and cannot do.  They are busy people, too.  Keeping a network safe and secure is a full time job.  They don't get to just plug in some appliance and set it and forget it.  They must constantly be analyzing intrusion attempts and attack vectors.  All the while patching software to minimize those attack vectors.  In addition to all that, they are still available whenever you forget your password.  So please, take it easy on those guys and gals.