A recent survey indicated that as many as 50 percent of all iPad tablets used in the enterprise are in the category of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). BYOD is the abbreviation for employees who have individually purchased devices, like a smartphone or tablet, and are now using them at work, which means accessing and locally storing corporate documents on them. While this can cut down costs and be beneficial to both the employer and employee, it means these devices are often no longer controlled by IT and the subsequent policies that are in place for enterprise data protection. This is a challenge for organizations that are subject to major regulatory compliance laws, like the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) and Security Breach Notification Laws.

Current statistics from the Aberdeen Group show 75 percent of enterprises already have a BYOD policy in place, 25 percent of employers provide a list of allowed devices and almost 50 percent let employees use any device. The iPad, in particular, is a popular BYOD device in the enterprise. 53 percent of companies with formal corporate support are currently using the iPad over Android, webOS or Blackberry tablets.

Rather than fighting off this recent trend, a good option is to provide additional guidance within an organization to help alleviate some of the concerns. This starts with applying some basic, sound business practices. Below, we’ve outlined a few suggested iPad practices and settings to implement to help protect confidential information.

Settings:

Set a Passcode

1. Go to Settings > General > Passcode Lock > Turn Passcode On

2. When prompted, select your 4 digit PIN number.

Set a Complex Passcode

1. Go to General > Passcode Lock >Simple Passcode > Off

2. When prompted, enter a new complex passcode: Use a minimum length of a combination of 8, alphanumeric characters and at least 2 uppercase letters or symbols.

Set Require Passcode

1. Go to General > Passcode Lock > Require Passcode and select how long the iPad can idle before the passcode is required to unlock it again

2. The iPad provides six options, starting with “Immediately”, After 1 minute, After 5 minutes, After 15 minutes, After 1 hour, and After 4 hours.  Depending on the user environment and user preferences a suggested setting would be immediately or after 1 minutes or less.

Set Erase Data

1. Assuming your iPad is set up to back up data in iTunes, the next step is enabling data protection. Go to General > Passcode Lock > Erase Data > On. This will erase the data on the iPad after 10 failed passcode attempts.

Setting your iPad cover lock: Go to General>iPad cover Lock/Unlock>On

One last important safety tip for protecting your iPad; try not to loose it! This may seem like an unavoidable circumstance, but look for ways you can minimize opportunities where it could be lost or stolen, or misused in the office if left unattended. How do you keep track of your iPad at work and keep information safe?