The enormous popularity of the iPad and other tablet devices signals a significant shift in how employees access sensitive information. IThe analyst firm IDC recently raised its forecast for the number of tablets that will be shipped this year by 17 percent, from 53.5 million to 62.5 million (click here to read the IDC press release). That’s in marked contrast to its gloomy forecast for PC shipments, which it predicts will grow by less than three percent this year. This signals a new trend for IT professionals, who are under increasing pressure to enable employees to use their tablets for business purposes. Symantec conducted an informal poll on its Facebook page, asking followers if they use their tablets for business use and what, if any, security measures are in place to prevent data loss. The answers were both alarming and not terribly surprising: 100 percent are using their tablets for business, and a significant majority (63 percent) acknowledges that doing so somewhat or significantly decreases security. However, most are not following security best practices to protect sensitive and confidential information. Helping our customers strike that balance between letting employees use their tablets for business without sacrificing security is the driving force behind an announcement we will make October 4th at our annual Vision Barcelona conference.

110 people took the time to complete the survey we hosted on Facebook, and one issue jumped out at me: there seems to be little organization around supplying tablets to employees. A significant majority of respondents – 74 percent – selected and purchased their tablets entirely on their own, only 20 percent were issued their tablets by their employers. That reflects the so-called “consumerization of IT” trend that continues gaining traction as people want (even demand) to use their smart phones and tablets for both personal and business use. There’s nothing wrong with that, it enables people to choose their favorite devices and spares IT the time and effort required to issue and manage devices. But doing so also creates an increased security risk.

We asked what type of sensitive or confidential business-related information respondents have accessed or stored on their tablets, and allowed them to choose more than one answer. 78 percent of respondents selected intellectual property, 39 percent chose financial data, 38 percent selected customer records and 20 percent indicated employee records. 86 percent said the either regularly or occasionally access business-related information that could be considered sensitive.

Despite the fact a majority of tablet users are accessing sensitive information, security protocols are lacking. More than half of the respondents have not received any communication regarding policies and/or best practices regarding the security of their work-related tablet activities, and only 55 percent are aware of any mobile device security and/or management software or tools their companies use in connection with their tablets.

The key to eliminating this security gap is not to deny employees the use of their tablets, or force IT departments to manage programs where they are responsible for the purchasing and distribution of locked-down tablets that employees cannot use for personal reasons like watching movies or reading. IT departments do need to develop security policies and best practices for accessing or storing sensitive information on their tablets, just as they do on their laptops or PCs. IT should also implement a data loss prevention solution to prevent unauthorized persons from accessing that data if a tablet is lost or stolen. On October 4th, we will unveil a new tool to help IT do just that.

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