VMware Study: Singapore Businesses at High Risk of Data Breaches as One in Three Singaporeans Use Unapproved Devices for Work

VMware Study: Singapore Businesses at High
Risk of Data Breaches as One in Three Singaporeans Use Unapproved Devices for
Work

Companies must provide employees with digital
workspaces that are consumer simple and enterprise secure, as 81 percent of
Singapore’s workforce faces issues accessing mobile work applications

SINGAPORE, 6 April, 2017 – It is tough enough to keep a sprawling IT
network safe from external threats, but it is increasingly difficult to protect
it from within as well, according to VMware, Inc. (NYSE: VMW), a global leader in cloud infrastructure
and business mobility. The new “VMware Digital Workspace Study” revealed that
more than one in three Singaporeans (38 percent) are using unapproved personal
devices for work – the highest in ASEAN – creating huge vulnerabilities for
Singapore companies. The exposure to data breaches and the business risk could
be significant as half of Singaporeans do not always comply with their
company’s IT policies or do not know them at all.

VMware’s Digital Workspace Study highlights
that 66 percent of Singaporeans use their mobile devices to check work emails.
Considering the significant number of Singaporeans who use unapproved personal
devices for work, this can significantly increase an organization’s
susceptibility to hacking and cyber-attacks.

“The real question here is: As we move into
this new reality where young employees have grown up with the Internet and want
to be always on and always connected, how do companies embrace these
technologies without compromising security?” said Ron Goh, President, Southeast
Asia and Korea, VMware.

“End-users that bring their own devices to
work simply want the applications they need to be readily accessible on the
devices they that choose to carry. When a consumer technology works, they will
use it instead of a corporate-deployed alternative. They expect self-service
access and a unified experience that enhances their productivity and supports
their work styles. From the survey it is clear that users will find their own
way around corporate IT if businesses are unable to deliver,” Goh added.

The BYOD threat goes beyond hardware devices
as the study finds that 81 percent of Singaporeans face difficulties when using
work apps. Almost half of Singaporeans (45 percent) identified having too many
passwords to remember as the top challenge when using work applications. To
overcome these challenges, employees prefer using the same password across
devices and applications (31 percent) or saving them as notes on mobile devices
(28 percent).

“Employees who use the same security password
are making themselves and their organisations prone to heightened security
risks. Once a criminal has obtained a password for one account, they can easily
access multiple accounts and build a detailed profile of someone,” Goh
explained.

Together with Malaysia, Singapore tops the
region in terms of a mobile workforce, with 2.5 devices per person on average.
However, majority of Singaporeans have negative views about their IT department
– the highest among SEAK countries. Thirty percent of Singaporeans agree that
IT restricts their flexibility at work and 25 percent think that IT creates
complexities in processes.

“There is an urgent need to break down
technology silos and tackle shadow IT by standardizing on a digital workspace
platform. The mobile workforce needs a simple, single log-in environment to
access all of their apps and services – across devices – while keeping personal
and professional data separate,” said Goh.

“Ultimately, users want simplicity while IT
wants security; users want choice while IT wants control. Enterprise companies
tend to focus on the security part but often have issues with consumer
simplicity. Yet, both are crucial steps in driving the digital workplace and
enabling unified apps and delivery with unified endpoint management. Businesses
that are able to provide secure access to increasingly mobile workforces while
managing the growing diversity of applications, data and devices will thrive in
the digital era,” he added.

To address IT departments’ cyber security
concerns and help users’ access critical business information and processes on
work applications, VMware has introduced access management and security
capabilities for its VMware Workspace ONE™ solution. Building on previous
Workspace ONE innovations, VMware makes it easy for IT to deliver unified
access and a single sign-on experience to intranet applications while offering
richer access capabilities that combine real-time security hygiene with
compliance automation. Workspace ONE combines identity and enterprise mobility
management (EMM) to help organizations securely deploy all business
applications and services with an improved end-user experience.