8.5 million reasons to secure portable devices in the workplace

But, adds the communications giant, an issue that may be quite unexpected is the knock-on effect this will have on businesses.

According to an independent study by Virgin Media's business division, of around 5000 office workers, 74% of them are already planning to show off their gadget gifts to co-workers and plug them into the corporate network when they return to work in the New Year.

Typical gadget gifts included iPads, smartphones and netbooks, which staff plan on using for work purposes, such as checking email and accessing company files.

Virgin Media says of those respondents that said they would be their new gadget in the office, 40% confessed to being repeat offenders, admitting that they have plugged consumer gadgets into the workplace before and bypassed the companies IT department.

Whilst consumer gadgets are infiltrating all sectors, the highest penetration looks to be in the legal and public sectors, where 79% of workers will be looking to fight the January blues by showing off their new devices.

Andrew McGrath, commercial executive director with Virgin Media's business division, said that the boundaries between what is a 'work' gadget and what is not have been blurring for quite some time.

"The research clearly shows that ignoring the prolific rise of personal consumer gadgets in the workplace simply isn't an option anymore. There are two key concerns for business", he said.

"Firstly, that this is yet another channel via which corporate data can be stolen or misused and secondly that the network will be flooded with yet more traffic that is unaccounted for", he added.

According to McGrath, the trend towards gadgets in the workplace is only going to increase and so companies need to take action now.

Well-defined usage policies and educating employees so that they are clear about why these practices have been put in place are key to these issues, he argues.

"For example, if Mike in finance wants to use his iPad to access files on the move, he'll know that needs to register the device with IT in order to get the right security settings implemented", he said.

"Knowing which employees are using which devices on the network will help the business to support staff, ensure that confidential information is safe and that business bandwidth isn't mysteriously being eaten up", he added.

"Once the ground rules have been set, businesses are free to fully embrace new technologies and enjoy all of the benefits that they offer."

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