Nine Consumer Technologies CIOs Fear
By C.G. Lynch
Some of them get it, and some of them don't. That's what our consumer technology survey found
when we polled 311 IT decision makers about their views on consumer technologies in the enterprise.
The survey found that 54 percent of respondents believe consumer applications are "inappropriate for
corporate use," while more than a third say they take the draconian measure of shutting down any unsupported
technology as soon as they detect it.
So we drilled down and asked them what consumer technologies make them cringe the most. The question was
very simple: Which of the following consumer technologies pose the greatest threat to your organization?
The respondents were allowed to select only one. And while there was a clear consensus on the number-one
threat, other technologies struck notes of anxiety for survey respondents. Read on to see what they found
worrisome, and feel free to add your comment to the mix, including any consumer IT threat we might have missed.
Threat No. 1: Portable Storage Devices
The explosion of USB-ready devices led 43 percent of IT decision makers to list them as their top consumer
IT security threat. No wonder: Storage-ready MP3 players like the iPod have seen increased sales; Apple
recently said it had shipped 22 million iPods in a quarter, up 5 percent from the same period the previous
year. Adrian Turner, CEO of Mocana, a security software vendor, says consumer device makers aren't thinking
about corporate networks. "It's an absolute afterthought," says Turner. "That will change quickly. It will
only take a couple breaches and the question will be who is responsible."
Image from IDG News Service
