Mobile working and BYOD has left businesses without sufficient security policies in place vulnerable to data loss, a new study has revealed.
The research was conducted by Arlington Research and Acronis back in May, and found that, while 60 per cent of the UK population are using personal devices for work, 40 per cent of companies have no security policies in place to prevent employees from sharing sensitive company information or accessing restricted data.
More than 1,000 senior UK business leaders were surveyed as part for the study, with 40 per cent of respondents also admitting they had no policy in place to dictate exactly how employees should use personal devices for work.
Daniel Model, manager of sales engineering Europe at Acronis, said: "The way people work is radically changing due to mobility. We are living in an always-on world where employees are on-demand more often and increasingly doing their work out of office.
"It is astounding to see how many UK businesses lack protection against unmanaged use of mobile phones and tablets and the critical company information that is accessible on them. The door is open to a serious risk of data breach."
Following the research, it was discovered that a further one in five employees admit to losing a personal device that had sensitive company data stored on it.
"We are calling for all UK businesses that are tapping into the power and productivity benefits of mobile workers to take data protection seriously and prevent easy access to and sharing of company data and remove the risks involved with mobile workers," Model added.
