Blue Coat Systems, an Internet security provider, has introduced mobile application controls in India to prevent security breaches by unsanctioned mobile applications inside a corporate’s IT network.

The move will help Indian enterprises manage the proliferation of consumer technology within their workplace, which has led to more employees bringing their own devices to work.

Bring Your Own Devices

Called Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD), employees by using more of their personal devices for work have created a situation where IT security managers are facing a deluge of untrusted, unmanaged devices and applications on the corporate network.

The increase in mobile devices on the corporate network creates two distinct risks that lead to undesired or unpredictable network impacts. 

Unsanctioned applications

It contributes to the growing problem of unsanctioned applications on the corporate network and corporate policies cannot be consistently enforced across all devices, which could result in security breaches.

A recent survey conducted by Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights reveal that urban India has 27 million smart phone users. This represents approximately nine percent of the 900 million general mobile users in the sub-continent.

With 350 million employees expected to use smartphones at work by 2016 globally, the number of mobile applications using the corporate network will continue to grow, according to Flurry – a mobile application measurement company.

“Mobile application controls give Indian administrators the ability to not only determine which applications are allowed on the network but also to what extent mobile device users are able to interact with those applications,” said Mr Ambarish Deshpande, Managing Director for India.

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