UK firms ignore mobile email security

Half of UK businesses plan to set up staff for remote email access over the next year but are turning a blind eye to the related security issues.

Almost a quarter of the IT directors (23%) surveyed by research firm Vanson Bourne say remote and mobile email access will take up most of their resources, while 14% say it will be the biggest cost per user in the next 12 months.

Despite its importance, less than a tenth of IT chiefs thought that controlling access to email was a security threat.

Simon Ratcliffe, head of managed services at Business Systems Group (BSG), which commissioned the research, says companies should subject mobile devices to the same policies and management as those applied to desktops.

“Part of the issue seems to be that email is regarded as a commodity within most businesses and is often not accorded the same level of respect required from a security perspective,” says Ratcliffe.

Mobile device security is often overlooked or seen as too expensive because of email’s ‘commodity’ status.