Workers will find a way to use their own technology, warns Samsung

The growing trend of employees blending their work and home life is opening the door to “hired hackers” who use their own technology despite restrictions put in place by their employer, says Samsung.

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Security technologist Bruce Schneier’s insights and warnings around the regulation of IoT security and forensic cyber psychologist Mary Aiken’s comments around the tensions between encryption and state security were the top highlights of the keynote presentations at Infosecurity Europe 2017 in London.

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Research by the technology firm found that 26% of employees have used a personal device to get round technology barriers put in place by organisations, with the millennial generation leading this trend.

Graham Long, vice-president of the Enterprise Business Team at Samsung UK & Ireland, said: “With the rise of mobile devices in the workplace, it is not surprising that work and life tasks are starting to blend. There is increasing demand for people to be able to do more on one device – whether that is to work remotely or spend time online shopping during their commute. There is a clear challenge for businesses to embrace new ways of working, but ensure all devices are highly secure and efficient.”

The research also found that 29% of employees will use their personal devices in the office for work-related tasks without knowing whether this is part of their employer's workplace policy.

Some 32% of employees believe using mobility to perform personal tasks in the workplace, and vice versa, makes them less stressed, but this raises a number of security concerns for organisations, especially if IT departments are unaware this it is happening.

Earlier this month, Samsung revealed that UK business are not taking mobile security seriously enough, with less than 10% of IT managers and chief technology officers polled deeming mobile security a priority.

Dr Dimitrios Tsivrikos, consumer and business psychologist at University College London, said: “Samsung’s study suggests that just as people solve problems and improve their personal lives by ‘life hacking’, many workers are using technology for the same ends. Millennials, who have grown up with mobile technology, are natural drivers of this trend, using their digital native intelligence to make IT work for them.

“If they haven’t already, European organisations need to design their work and security policies, and technology strategy, with this employee behaviour in mind.”

Earlier this month, Samsung announced that the next version of Google's Android operating system will have integration with the Samsung Knox platform, which means the security platform will now be available on other Android-powered devices.