BYOD SAFETY
Making BYOD Safe
How Dean Lause Is Mitigating The Massive Cybersecurity Risk All Businesses Face With His Bring Your Own Device ( BYOD ) Plan
WITH DEAN LAUSE , CTO / COO OF ARGENTUM IT
I n early 2020 , Dean Lause , Chief Technical Officer of Argentum IT , received a frantic call from the head of a prominent law office .
The staff at the law firm had become accustomed to working remotely , and business was booming . The partners were enjoying the advantages of the work-from-home environment — productivity was up , costs were down , and employees were feeling a greater sense of work-life balance . It only took a few seconds for that to change . Across town , one of the firm ’ s attorneys was running to an appointment while quickly sending a few emails . Suddenly , he froze and had an uneasy feeling . Did that last email go to its intended recipient ? He checked his sent items and felt his knees buckle . Sure enough , the message , which contained the firm ’ s entire customer list , had just been delivered to its biggest competitor . The fallout was tremendous .
Not only did the head of IT find himself looking for a new position , but the law firm also found itself in the precarious position of needing to reestablish trust with its clients after proprietary information had been disclosed so carelessly .
It ’ s disasters like this that play out in companies every day that have Lause on a mission to get companies to implement what he refers to as the Bring Your Own Device ( BYOD ) plan . “ Part of what I do is help companies implement BYOD strategies that work ,” Lause explains . “ With the proper security controls and precautions in place , you can protect organizations and prevent sensitive data leakage , potential lawsuits , and even sabotage .”
Lause , who adopted a work-from-home lifestyle 25 years ago , says that even before the COVID-19 crisis , companies were adapting to the BYOD environment because of the numerous advantages , which include reduced expenses , improved productivity , and greater employee satisfaction . “ Businesses that take advantage of BYOD practices can save at a minimum $ 350 a year per employee ,” Lause says . “ Using portable devices for work purposes saves employees about an hour per workday as well as improves productivity by up to 33 %.”
While there are advantages , BYOD also poses a significant risk to a company ’ s network , files , phone systems , emails , and contacts as well as a host of sensitive information , including human resources reports , health information , legal documents , trade secrets , and even marketing lists . “ You can no longer be penny-wise and pound-foolish when it comes to cybersecurity and devising BYOD policies ,” Lause says . “ If companies are going to allow individuals to use their own device to access company data , they must have some way to contain the information that is private or proprietary to their organization
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