More than two thirds of local government organisations don’t operate a policy on “bring your own device” (BYOD), according to research released today.
A study carried out by research firm iGov Survey found that 68% don’t operate a BYOD policy, despite 67% stating that they had conducted research into the issue.
It also found that 82% or organisations place a high priority on ICT security, reflecting a rise in the number of data breaches in local government.
The report said: “Reluctance to introduce a BYOD policy perhaps reflects misgivings around the IT security of these policies, with the potential of introducing new security threats into the organisation.”
Despite the lack of formal policies among councils, just under half of those surveyed (45%) said their current wireless solution was configured for BYOD. Of those saying it was not, 29% said it was something they were considering in future.
Participants said their organisation faces a number of threats to ICT security, most notably data loss (62%), lack of staff awareness (52%) and data misuse.
Just under half of all participants (45%) also stated that malicious code, such as hacking, phishing and viruses, was also a major concern.
But, despite the emphasis on data protection, only 24% said their organisation provided a data loss prevention security solution.
Among other findings in the report, 56% believed that their security technology does not impact on their ability to deliver cost savings.
Around a third (34%) said that security was given a specific amount of their organisation’s budget, with 38% of these respondents saying it accounted for less than 5% of the overall budget.
Just over half (53%) told us that the Public Services Network would have a positive impact on information governance, with just 21% saying it would have a positive impact.
The research follows a report earlier this week that found more than a third of public sector decision makers say their organisation was hit by at least one denial of service (DDoS) attack over the past year.
