Telling workers to use their personal cell phones and BlackBerrys for work purposes may sound like a very bad idea — but that’s exactly what some states are doing to deal with budget problems.
In fact, The National Association of State Chief Information Officers is actually encouraging cash-strapped state governments to take up this practice.
Many are heeding their advice. Almost half (14 out of 36) of the states surveyed by the organization said they already allow employees to do this.
If this proves effective, other companies may follow suit. Of course, this tactic could expose businesses to viruses, compromise sensitive data, etc.
So, if your firm is thinking about trying this, be sure to minimize risks by following these three steps:
- Make sure workers use password protections and security software
- Always keep the remote wiping function on devices enabled — so company data stored on the phone can be erased if a device gets lost, and
- Specify in your policies which databases, apps, records, etc., cannot be accessed by smartphones.
