The number of employee-owned smartphones and tablets used in the enterprise will exceed 1 billion by 2018, as the growing trend of bring your own device (BYOD) redefines business connectivity, according to a report from analytics firm Juniper Research.
The report, Mobile Security: BYOD, mCommerce, Consumer & Enterprise 2013-2018, found that although the trend has the potential to benefit organizations in terms of enhanced employee satisfaction and productivity, the threat from unprotected employee mobile devices is of significant importance.
Western Europe currently represents the largest revenue hub for the mobile security vendors, and more than half of all mobile devices in the United States will have security apps installed by the end of 2018, according to the findings.
In the consumer segment, Juniper forecasts a steady growth in revenue for security software, approaching 40 percent of the global mobile security sales revenue by the end of 2018.
The report said this would be driven primarily by increased consumer awareness of available security solutions and–critically–of the risks posed by fraud and malware to data stored on and accessible through their smartphones and tablets.
With these concerns in mind, growth in the mobile security market is currently being driven by the enterprise segment, particularly in the areas of BYOD and mobile device management.
According to a recent report commissioned by Lookout Security and conducted by Forrester Consulting, 69 percent of IT executives report that they are very concerned about the threat of mobile malware, viruses and spyware. In addition, the report found 60 percent have experienced lost or stolen phones in the past year.
Seventy-two percent agree there is a gap between current mobile security solutions and the security threats that businesses face today, and three-quarters of IT administrators surveyed in the report agree that BYOD has made mobile security more challenging in the workplace.
While demand for mobile device management (MDM) and mobile security solutions is strong, a report by the Ponemon Institute and email data security specialist Zix suggests many businesses are looking to replace their current BYOD security solution.
Among the most frequently cited areas of dissatisfaction were cost and inadequate security protection, but the survey also suggested getting employees to comply with installation and activation of a security solution was also an issue.
More than 40 percent of respondents said their companies have limited BYOD deployment due to employee resistance to loading security tools on personal devices (35 percent) and inadequate security tools (28 percent).