Itasca, IL - Dec 8, 2015 - Flexera Software, the leading provider of next-generation software licensing, compliance, security and installation solutions for application producers and enterprises, released a new enterprise Application Readiness report detailing potential risks to enterprises whose employees use popular Apple iOS apps to conduct holiday shopping on company-issued or "Bring Your Own Device" (BYOD) phones.
The report found, among other things, that of the 26 popular Apple iOS shopping apps tested:
The ability of employee-downloaded apps to access sensitive corporate data and device functions could present a potential risk to enterprises and violate their BYOD policies. Examples of these risks are playing out in the headlines, including the instance of a popular flashlight app that transmitted user locations and device identifiers to ad networks; or a mobile device game app that, unbeknownst to a Federal employee playing it, tweeted out an embarrassing message to the EPA's 52,000 Twitter followers (the organization's Twitter account, not the employee's, was tied to the device).
To compile the report, Flexera Software identified 26 popular shopping apps,[1] representing a small sampling of the thousands of shopping apps that can be found in the Apple App Store and that could easily be downloaded by employees to a corporate-issued or BYOD device. These apps were tested using AdminStudio Mobile, an Application Readiness solution that helps organizations identify, manage, track and report on mobile apps, simplify mobile application management, reduce mobile app risk and address the rapidly growing demand for mobile apps in the enterprise.
"Most organizations have standardized Application Readiness processes to test enterprise apps for potential deployment problems and risks, but when it comes to understanding and testing mobile apps, we're still in 'the wild west.' IT Operations teams largely do not understand what mobile apps do and what functionality and data they can access - and this makes it extremely difficult to create and enforce effective BYOD policies," said Maureen Polte, Vice President of Product Management at Flexera Software. "If employees are using corporate or BYOD devices for holiday shopping, it's critical that IT Operations and security professionals understand which apps employees are using, what features, functions and data those apps can access - and whether that use is in compliance with the organization's BYOD policy."
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Flexera is reimagining the way software is bought, sold, managed and secured. We view the software industry as a supply chain, and make the business of buying and selling software and technology asset data more profitable, secure, and effective. Our Monetization and Security solutions help software sellers transform their business models, grow recurring revenues and minimize open source risk. Our Vulnerability and Software Asset Management (SAM) solutions strip waste and unpredictability out of procuring software, helping companies buy only the software and cloud services they need, manage what they have, and reduce compliance and security risk. The Flexera RightScale multicloud management and cloud cost optimization solutions enable enterprises to drive top-line revenue while optimizing cloud usage to reduce risk and costs. Powering these solutions and the entire software supply chain, Flexera has built the world’s largest and most comprehensive repository of market intelligence on technology assets. In business for 30+ years, our 1300+ employees are passionate about helping our 80,000+ customers generate millions in ROI every year. Visit us at www.flexera.com.
Clement | Peterson Public Relations
flexerapr@clementpeterson.com
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