The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/116777
The smartphones, and whatever tablets their owners are also carrying, likely contain a mix of personal and business data. Client files are sharing storage space with family photos and music tracks. On any weekend evening, an iPad with confidential evidence might be passed around the living room so children can take turns playing Temple Run. If there ever was a solid line between work and personal computing, the BYOD revolution has erased it. New Challenges for IT The blurring of personal and business computing creates special challenges for law firms and their IT departments. Those challenges include the following: • Security As an Afterthought: Consumer devices like iPads were not designed with business-grade security in mind. BlackBerry devices were popular with businesses not just because they were excellent devices for handling large volumes of email on the go, but also because they had enterprise security features built in. iPhones and Android devices typically lack these features or disable them by default. • Data Contamination: BYOD devices mix personal and business data. Five years ago, a business laptop was not likely to be the primary repository of a worker's vacation photos. The advanced multimedia features of today's smartphones, tablets and laptops encourage workers to use them for nonbusiness uses. There's always the risk that some of this personal content will get mixed up with business content. There's an even larger risk that malware in personal content, such as the latest game or app, will infect the device and jeopardize the security of the law firm's data and IT infrastructure. • Mobile Malware: Malware that targets mobile devices is on the rise. IBM predicts that mobile malware will grow 15 percent annually for the next few years. If users are storing valuable data on mobile devices that lack traditional PC defenses such as AV scanners, these devices make an Peer to Peer 19