The results of a study released by Lieberman Software Corp. says that BYOD (bring your own device) increases costs to businesses. Perhaps that wouldn't be the case if those devices were all Apple devices -- although the folks at Lieberman seem to disagree.

Respondents were asked if they believed allowing employees to connect their own devices (such as USB drives, mobile phones, portable computers and home computers) to the corporate network increased costs -- with 67% saying that it did increase costs.

When asked what caused the organization the biggest headache, almost half (43%) cited an employee device introducing a virus; more than a quarter (26%) pointed the finger at employees losing a device, and employees stealing data the biggest concern for 22% of respondents.

The survey was carried out by Lieberman Software of nearly 250 IT professionals in London. Philip Lieberman, president and CEO of privileged identity management software vendor Lieberman Software, believes the BYOD wave is being driven by companies, such as Apple, pushing their products as corporate ready or compatible -- even if they’re not.

"We’ve been here before," he says. ". It’s the same classic back door sales process used to promote PCs in the 1980s, where the large IT shops controlled both the glass house and what was on the desktops. Back then users and managers would show how PCs were better, faster and more flexible than the ‘stone age’ solutions offered by IT. Ultimately IT was forced to adopt PCs as their corporate standard. The new twist today is that the interlopers are devices that will always be owned by the consumer, not the company."

Actually, Apple doesn't seem to "push" its devices for the enterprise. They simply end up there because they're so popular among so many age groups.

"In today's consumer-owned devices, the ability to adopt and sustain enterprise access and revocation controls is non-existent or impaired. In an effort to meet the demand of BYOD, enterprises are being forced to employ soft certificates with diminished security," Lieberman says. "While end-users might love the convenience, a lost or compromised device can fast become a nightmare for the CIO. Make sure you understand what you’re opening the organization up to when you allow, or even encourage, your workforce to bring their own devices.”

For more info on the study go to www.liebsoft.com/BYOD_survey .

-- Dennis Sellers