Your Business Needs a Well-Structured Mobile Device Policy

Smartphones are basically the most popular piece of technology ever. They can be used for much of the computing that people deem necessary. It’s no surprise that since they pay over $1,000 for these devices that your employees are going to take them everywhere, including your office. There was a time when employers were horrified by this fact, but today smartphones can just as easily be used for work as they are for distraction. 

It’s on you to dictate how mobile devices can be utilized in your business. This month, we thought we’d go into what your business’ mobile device policy needs to cover to ensure that they are used to help your business. 

Looking at Mobile Security Standards

Setting up a mobile security policy is the first, and probably most important, aspect of utilizing smartphones. Here are a few suggestions:

• All devices must have a password protecting the contents of the device. You’ll need to set up a minimum-security standard for passwords that removes less secure means of unlocking a device. 
• Employees need to use work profiles or limit the applications they install to ones that have been cleared by the company’s IT administrator. 
• Any devices not included in the acceptable list, or that are not a part of a BYOD policy (e.g, ones that are exclusively for personal use) may not connect to the network.
• Employee agrees that lost or stolen devices will be wiped by your IT administrator. 

You can scale up or back but ensuring that the basics of mobile security are maintained is extremely important. 

Accepting Risk

To keep things secure, you will want to make sure that you are protecting yourself against external and internal threats, alike. This can be (at least partially) accomplished by including a few items in your policy:

• Promptly reporting lost or stolen devices.
• The use of a smartphone equals consent to company mobile policy.
• The company can disconnect any device from the network at any time for any reason. 
• Users are responsible for their own mobile backup.

As with any important policy, it is important to put all of these in writing.

Usage Guidelines

Your mobile device policy should create clear guidelines for how your employees should use their mobile devices at work. You will want to include the following:

• Clearly defined standards of use for both business and personal that include forbidden content, acceptable interaction with clients and staff, etc.
• A complete list of the resources that can be accessed via smartphone.
• A list of approved or banned applications.
• A list of banned websites.

Establishing a comprehensive mobile policy is going to be important from this day forward. If you would like help building your company’s mobile policy, reach out to Washington Works’s experts today at 301-571-5040.