(Tim Lohman, Computerworld) Almost by the day, enterprises are becoming more receptive to the consumerisation of IT and introduction of mobile devices and platforms into their environment. But introducing smartphones, netbooks or newer technologies such as the iPad and e-readers, can pose security issues to an organisation - and to any customer or business included in the data held on the devices.

Threats such as Trojans and drive-by-downloads which attack and exploit unpatched vulnerabilities in software installed on an endpoint, rogue security applications, spyware, botnets, worms, viruses and phishing attempts are all threats that apply as much, if not more-so, to consumer devices as office-bound PCs. And once commercial data makes its way onto an employee's device, which is often unmanaged, the enterprise can no longer control its spread or usage. [...]

IT managers must also bear in mind that while employee devices perform a dual role - as a personal device and a company device - the protection of any organisational data held on the devices is totally up to the company, says senior marketing manager for Websense, David Brophy.[...]