Before the COVID-19 pandemic, companies showed little interest in Bring Your Own PC (BYOPC) practice. However, the popularity of remote work in recent years has impacted BYOPC, making it a cost-effective option for organizations that lack the necessary hardware to allow their employees to continue working from home.

Despite BYOPC’s surging popularity, it has yet to reach mainstream adoption because of the cybersecurity risks that come with it. With cybersecurity tools like the Venn secure remote workspace calming security concerns, this work strategy is expected to reach mainstream adoption in the next five years. This article explains reasons why most organizations will soon embrace BYOPC.

Expectations for BYOPC in the next five years

In the Hype Cycle for Endpoint Security report for 2022, Gartner (News - Alert), an American technological research and consulting firm, predicted that BYOPC security would peak in 2-5 years. According to Gartner’s senior research director, Rob Smith, the “urgent need” to let employees work from home and the absence of hardware has bolstered BYOPC adoption globally. 

However, BYOPC needs the support of chief information security officers (CISOs) and security leaders to be dependent on a long-term work-from-home strategy. CISOs and security leaders must also support necessary security tools for a BYOPC environment. 

Factors driving BYOPC toward mainstream adoption

BYOPC’s path to mainstream adoption in the next five years is difficult without investments in critical security technologies. These security tools can tackle threats to BYOPC and ease its path to quick mainstream adoption. Here are tools that will decide the pace of BYOPC mainstream adoption:

1.Multi-factor Authentication (MFA (News - Alert))

BYOPC is an endpoint deployment strategy that lets the remote workforce use personally selected and bought client devices to access company services and data. Essentially, the method works with sensitive, confidential information vulnerable to cyber-attacks from malware or ransomware. 

Enabling MFA for access to all corporate resources can protect a personally purchased work device from such attacks. A strong MFA includes at least one factor independent of the device to enhance security. Biometrics-based authentication with facial recognition or fingerprint and continuous virtual monitoring add to the advantage. 

Essentially, MFA helps to safeguard employee identities and corporate data in a BYOPC environment, making the strategy ideal for mainstream adoption. 

2.Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Another security factor driving BYOPC towards mainstream adoption is ZTNA, a system that grants employees access to corporate applications only based on trust. Basically, it draws a line between corporate data and personal apps and files so that users do not mix things up by mistake. Users only gain access by verifying identity and context and adhering to policy. 

Moreover, ZTNA allows organizations to monitor all user activities for risks. However, this approach is not a complete solution as data resides in the endpoint. That makes data prone to intentional or unintentional leakage.

Also, ZTNA provides companies with limited control over corporate data and applications as the endpoint serves as the place of execution, not only an access platform. Nevertheless, the security strategy is suitable for BYOPC for companies with employees who have cybersecurity training and can avoid unintentional leakage of data. 

3.Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB)

CASB is an enforcement point between users and cloud service providers. It helps an organization gain visibility into the complete cloud stack, including workloads and applications, and the security of tools to control threats. 

Also, CASB can combine different security policies, including authentication, credential mapping, malware detection, encryption, and more, to ensure cloud app security across managed and unmanaged devices. 

That means employees can use their personally owned devices to work from anywhere and not compromise the company’s cloud security, thanks to the many security policies that CASB provides.

4.Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) and Desktop as a Service (DaaS)

VDI and DaaS are similar tools that separate desktop images and apps from the user’s device. They help companies to deliver virtual desktops over a network to endpoint devices such as smartphones and traditional PC. 

Employees can connect to these virtual desktops anywhere and anytime and feel they are working with a company-issued PC. It’s the ideal solution for BYOPC and remote workforces.

Moreover, companies do not have to worry about exposure when employees use VDI or DaaS because data stays securely on the server, not the end client device.

Simple tips to enhance BYOPC security

Security is central to the success of BYOPC. Here are simple security tips that can help companies ensure smooth BYOPC implementation:

• Build a culture of cybersecurity in the company
• Mandate the use of antivirus software
• Encourage using a virtual private network (VPN), especially when using public Wi-Fi.
• Use cloud applications
• Mandate the use of strong and unique passwords for all accounts
• Employees should avoid unsecured Wi-Fi networks
• Utilize critical security technologies
• Limit the use of personally owned Windows and macOS devices to where local control and data isolation can be enabled to prevent data leakage and protect company systems and user credentials.

Conclusion

The major concern with BYOPC in the past was cybersecurity. The strategy offered low confidence in safeguarding corporate data, which is all changing as companies continue learning about security tools such as MFA, ZTNA, CASB, VDI, and DaaS. These isolation methods protect and effectively separate work from personal activity.

With more cybersecurity technologies like the Venn software being engineered to support BYOPC, all fingers point to the direction of BYOPC reaching mainstream adoption in the next five years.