Businesses ignorant of iPhone security risk

Many businesses are blissfully unaware of the security risks posed by employees with iPhones, new research has discovered.

Over a third (35%) of IT decision makers polled did not recognise that unauthorised users could access valuable company data through employee’s iPhones.

Nearly two thirds (64%) of companies surveyed had yet to put in place a security system to protect company data against the iPhone threat.

Meanwhile, two in five businesses knowingly allow staff to download company data onto removable devices without security provisions.

“We were very surprised to see that most companies were not prepared for [the iPhone] threat,” said Sacha Chahrvin, managing director of DeviceLock UK, who commissioned the survey.

“The amount of removable and mobile memory-enabled devices that employees have on their person at any one time is now quite considerable – be it a USB stick or an iPhone,” Chahrvin added.

Secure USB sticks were recently made mandatory in government departments following a string of high-profile data leaks.