IT staff: CEOs not 'very serious' about mobile device security, as BT study reveals scale of UK breaches

BT said that the attitude taken by chief executives towards mobile device security can influence the way staff across a whole organisation approach the issue.

According to a survey it commissioned, of 640 IT decision makers from large organisations in the financial, retail and public sectors across the world, including in the UK, US, France, Germany and Singapore, 69% believe the chief executive of their organisation does not take mobile device security very seriously.

The BT study revealed that more than 40% of UK companies experienced a mobile security breach in the last year. A fifth of those businesses experienced more than four such security breaches in the period, it said.

BT said that just 35% of the UK IT decision makers surveyed as part of its study said their employer had a 'bring your own device' (BYOD) policy. According to its survey, 95% of UK organisations let individuals use either their own personal mobile device or a "corporately owned personally-enabled" (COPE) device for work activities.

"While 33% of personal or corporate owned mobile devices have full access to the internal networks or contain sensitive client information, a third of organisations (34%) do not have any kind of enforceable mobile security policy," BT said.

Guidance issued by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection watchdog, recommends that organisations establish a BYOD policy to govern employees' use of their own personal mobile devices for work purposes.