How to Secure BYO Devices

There are a number of technologies available to allow staff to use their own devices and stay secure. These are:

Allowing Company security policy to apply to the personal device Simply connecting a personal device using the workplace Microsoft account offers some level of protection. When connecting the work account the user will be asked “Allow my Organisation to Manage my device”. If they tick yes then the default security policies are applied to the device.

This provides a basic level of protection, however it doesn’t allow the organization to remotely wipe corporate data from the machine, if staff leave.

Full Company management using a work account on the personal device

One way to improve the security of BYO devices is to ensure they have the same IT management as work devices. We add a workplace account to the personal device and secure the device using the full security and device management that we use for fully owned corporate devices. When staff leave we block the work account. That account and the work data can then be deleted.

Remote Desktop and cloud PC options

Remote Desktop technology can also be used to allow staff to work from home without compromising security. Staff log onto a remote computer – either their own device in the office or a terminal server session to work. If staff leave, that access is simply blocked and staff no longer have access.

Microsoft have also introduced their Cloud PC which makes a remote PC permanently available, without adding expensive infrastructure.

Web Only Option

Did you know there are web options for Microsoft Outlook , Work Excel and PowerPoint?. Using these tools means that most work can be conducted in a web browser. This means that you don’t need to have desktop software or download files to the PC. This has obvious advantages in work from home and BYO Device options as there is no need to download files, and access can be quickly blocked when staff leave. Given that many if not most of the work apps are cloud based this approach makes sense. If you would like to discuss the implementation of this option then please contact us