BYOD: Consumer-owned mobile devices used at work to exceed 1 billion by 2018

HAMPSHIRE, UK: A new report from Juniper Research has forecast that the number of employee owned smartphones and tablets used in the enterprise will exceed 1 billion by 2018, as the growing trend of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) redefines business connectivity. This represents almost 35 percent of the total installed base of consumer owned tablets and smartphones.

Consequently, the report notes that there are a number of issues and implications that need to be addressed and a single policy or measure may not be sufficient while devising future BYOD strategies.

BYOD risks landscape

The new report, Mobile Security: BYOD, mCommerce, Consumer & Enterprise 2013-2018, found that whilst BYOD has the potential to benefit organisations in terms of enhanced employee satisfaction and productivity, the threat from unprotected employee mobile devices is of significant importance.

Juniper Research contends that for businesses adopting BYOD, there is a need to consider mobile devices as just another endpoint - while devising measures to mitigate the challenges and the risks of managing a multi-platform environment.

Steady growth in consumer segment

Growth in the mobile security market is currently being driven by the Enterprise segment particularly in the areas of BYOD and mobile device management.

In the consumer segment, Juniper forecasts a steady growth in revenue for security software, approaching 40 percent of the global mobile security sales revenue by the end of 2018. This will be driven primarily by increased consumer awareness of available security solutions and - critically - of the risks posed by fraud and malware to data stored on and accessible via their smartphones and tablets.

Other key findings

- Western Europe currently represents the largest revenue hub for the mobile security vendors.

- More than half of all mobile devices in the US will have security apps installed by the end of 2018.