How to Stay Secure in a Bring-Your-Own-Device World

Today we have professionals in every line of business who use their own personal devices such as laptops, smartphones and tablets for work.

This phenomenon believe it or not, is called Bring Your Own Device or BYOD.

As one might imagine, having devices that are owned and maintained by employees connecting to your network raises all kinds of security concerns. These devices go home with the employees af the end of every day so security is definitely at risk. What if an employee loses his or her tablet, which has confidential files on it? What if a laptop is stolen? Would a thief have direct connection to your corporate server?

For an extreme example, read about how a USB drive brought down a nations government by clicking here.

BYOD offers many benefits to business owners, not the least of which is the money saved through employees purchasing their own devices. Additionally, employees often feel more productive when using devices with which they're well acquainted. The portability of such devices also brings with it the advantages of mobile computing. Combined with cloud computing technology and virtual private networking, BYOD has the potential to allow employees to work anywhere, anytime, so long as they have an internet connection.

Just as businesses need an "acceptable use" policy that lays out the do's and dont's of using computers owned by the company, businesses need a well-developed policy for BYOD (more than just requiring that devices are password-protected).

For an in-depth review of what your company's BYOD policy should contain, contact CMIT Solutions. We'll help you implement a policy that will keep you and your employees productive and secure.

A Single Piece of Hardware that Boosts Your Computers Speed

If your laptop or desktop computer is running a bit slow in the speed department (assuming it has nothing to do with malware or insufficient system memory), you may want to consider swapping out the original hard drive with a new type of disk -- a solid-state hard drive. Solid-state drives (SSD's) differ from their conventional hard disk drive (HDD) counterparts in that they have no moving parts.

Instead of spinning platters that are read by a mechanical arm in an HDD, SSDs use memory chips like the ones found in an iPhone, iPad, or stick of RAM (random access memory -the memory modules in your computer). The lack of

moving parts offer several advantages, including faster read/write times, less heat output, lower power consumption (generally), and better longevity.

The faster read/write times contribute to significantly faster responsiveness of both your operating system and your software applications.

However there are some drawbacks to this piece of hardware. First off, SSDs are not yet available in capacities as large conventional HDDs (3

terabytes and up). The current maximum for widely available SSDs is 512 gigabyte than conventional drives. Even 256GB SSDs cost north of $300.

While the lower capacity might seem like a heavy price to pay for increased speed, several mitigating factors exist. First, if your computer has room for two or more drives, installing your operating system and software apps on an SSD and keeping your data on a conventional, large capacity HDD gives you the best of both worlds. Your programs gain a speed boost from the SSD, but you still have plenty of storage for a large media collection on the second drive.

Secondly, with much of computing moving to the cloud model, your computer needs less storage space for data and media libraries. Your applications (such as Word, iTunes, or Windows Media Player) reside on your local machine, while yo

ur libraries are stored in the cloud, accessible from anywhere you have an internet connection.

However, before you rush out and buy an SSD, you'll need to ensure that your motherboard supports it. If you're unsure, contact CMIT Solutions, and we'll figure it out for you.

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Incidentally, do you know what this is.

We'll give you a hint: this picture was taken in 1956. For the answer, visit the CMIT Blog.