Smartphonesecurityissues

Smartphone Security Issues

Josh Miller

Abstract

The use of smartphone devices on organizational networks is becoming a common business practice. The use of these personal devices increases the information security risk to the organization. The risks can be managed with proper planning and user training.

Smartphone Security Issues

On may 3 1996 a laptop and external hard drive were stolen from a Department of Veterans Affairs data analyst’s home in Aspen Hill. The laptop contained the names, birth dates and Social Security number of 26.5 million current and former service members. At the time the theft was reported to be the largest information security breach in government history. On June 6th 2006 five veterans groups filed a lawsuit against the VA. The lawsuit was later settled for twenty million dollars. This incident demonstrates the importance of protecting sensitive data and the potential costs associated with lost or stolen data.

At the time the incident was due to information on a stolen laptop. Today there is more information accessible and stored outside the control of the central organization network. One of the largest souses of this outside access it the smartphone or like devices. It is estimated by Gartner group that mobile phones will replace PC’s as the most common Web access device worldwide. According to Gartner’s PC installed base forecast, the total number of PCs in used will reach 1.78 billion units in 2013. By 2013, the combined installed base of smartphones and browser-equipment enhanced phones will exceed 1.82 billion units and will be greater than the installed base for PCs thereafter (Gartner). This proliferation of technology into the hands of the consumer has led to what is commonly referred to as the consumerization of IT. Consumerization of IT is the use of personal computer devices in the business network.

Many organizations have reversed the standard practice of not permitting personal devices to be used on the...