In the past, we’ve done blog posts on BYOD (bring your own device), which refers to a popular new policy permitting employees to bring their own personal smartphones and tablets into the office, and use them on the company’s WiFi network or mobile data plan. However, some companies have been taking BYOD to the next level, allowing employees to not only bring their own devices into the office, but also allowing them to bring their own personal networks into the office. This new policy is called “bring your own network” or BYON for short.
But how exactly does BYON work in most enterprises? Why would employees want to bring their own networks? Is BYON safe? Read on to find out more about BYON!
What is BYON?
BYON policies vary by company. Some businesses allow employees to create their own mobile hotspots by bringing in their own personal smartphones, and tethering their work devices to their own mobile networks. Employees can also create their own hotspots by bringing in their own small wireless routers and setting them up in the office. BYON is a great policy for employees that prefer to use their own personal networks in the office, and for companies that restrict employees from using company networks for personal browsing for security reasons.
Why would employees want to bring their own networks?
Why exactly would anyone want to bring in their own network to the office? Wouldn’t it cost employees more money to pay for their own personal wireless networks to work? In some cases yes, bringing in their own networks would cost employees more money, but if employees are already paying for their own personal large mobile data plans, and often have data leftover, tethering their work devices to their personal mobile networks doesn’t create much of an extra cost for them, and in fact allows them to get more “bang for their buck”.
Additionally, some employees prefer to use their own networks for personal reasons. Some employees may find the available network in their workplace to be inadequate or slow at times. As a result, they may bring their own networks so that they can work at a faster pace and be more productive–this is beneficial to both the employee and the business. Other employees may tether their work devices to their smartphones so that they can browse websites that are restricted on their company network during their breaks. For example, employees may visit online shopping sites, or entertainment sites.
Potential security risks of BYON
If employees are only using their personal networks for non-company applications like Amazon or Hulu, then there isn’t much of a security risk involved with BYON policies. It’s when employees forget to switch back to company networks, or default to their personal networks while accessing company applications, this can create a huge security risk for the company. Company WiFi and mobile data networks are often heavily protected, equipped with firewalls and malware detectors. This ensures that sensitive company information does not get leaked, and that employee networks do not get flooded with potentially harmful viruses.
Personal networks brought by employees into the workplace are often not as heavily protected. As a result, corporate data and other sensitive information that passes through employee ad hoc networks cannot be monitored and is potentially at risk of being leaked. In addition to potentially exposing sensitive information, data travelling outside the company’s network can expose other important corporate data to new malware threats.
BYON Redefined
By many accounts DataXoom is considered one of the best MVNO’s (mobile virtual network operators) for business that’s commercially available today. One of the reasons that this is true is that unlike many MVNO’s in the U.S., DataXoom partners with multiple wireless network operators to give our corporate customer access to multiple underlying networks via our online platform.
If the main reason you’re looking at BYON options is that you’d like to provide your employees with more choices when it comes to connectivity, we might be part the solution that you’re looking for!
Clearly if businesses are to effectively implement BYON or BYOD policies, they must take into account the potential security risks, and have systems in place to mitigate them. Looking for reliable, secure, and affordable mobile data plans for your business? DataXoom is an MVNO that provides mobile data plans for business only. Interested in what DataXoom can offer your company? Send us a note at sales@dataxoom.com or follow us on Twitter!
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