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Are You Letting Flexible Working Damage Your IT Security?
Although the increase in flexible working is
providing SME’s with better efficiency and
happier employees; you need to be sure of
protecting your business against the dangers
of illegal software, viruses and
compatibility issues.
Research by NOP for the Business Software
Alliance (BSA) shows that 55% of SME
business owners and managers think that
 mobile
and remote working is making it increasingly
difficult to see what staff are loading onto
business laptops and mobile devices.
However, a surprising 67% of businesses
confessed to not being concerned; despite
the risk of fines and business disruption
through illegitimate or damaging software.
If your business is caught with illegal
software you could face thousands of pounds
of fines, as well as disruption while
equipment is confiscated and checked. A
virus on an employees laptop could cause
important data to be destroyed; and could
potentially spread through your entire
network, or even allow unauthorised access
to fraudsters.
“Mobile working, and its culture of anytime,
anyplace, anywhere working, is undoubtedly a
good thing for UK business – the flexibility
it affords both staff and employer can
generate excellent efficiencies as well as
boosting productivity,” commented Siobhan
Carroll, Regional Manager of the Business
Software Alliance. “But with this freedom
there is also a practical consideration,
where bosses need to keep a tight reign on
exactly what their staff are putting onto
their mobile devices. This research suggests
that UK bosses have a dangerously lax
attitude to the downloading of illegal
software on company devices.”
Siobhan Carroll of the BSA said: “Although
companies are embracing remote working they
are not perhaps putting the controls in
place that would best discourage licence
abuse. Businesses need to have a
preventative strategy and full controls in
place before issues arise over illegal
software use. Hefty fines can have a very
detrimental effect on a company’s bottom
line.
To help your business take control of your
software, the BSA is offering a free and
confidential assessment of your ‘Software
Asset Management’ (SAM); after taking the
assessment you can download a document with
advice on how your business can improve.
The assessment and information is available
from the Just Ask Sam site here.
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