With the phenomenon of Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) well established in commerce and industry, IT security managers are expected to control increasing numbers of devices on their networks which are not owned by the companies they work for and may fall short of security expectations.

The most tempting course of action for such managers is to opt for Mobile Device Management (or MDM) solutions to grasp the nettle and bring BYOD under control. However, MDM alone isn't enough to cover all user-owned devices or cover the vital access control aspect of the corporate network, as explained by ForeScout Technologies' Sandeep Kumar in a recent blog post.

Sandeep explains that MDM only covers smartphones and tablets, leaving user-owned laptops and other portable equipment unaccounted for. Unmanaged devices are also left without cover and MDM falls short of the Network Access Control function, a fundamental aspect of network protection.

For effective BYOD management, companies need to adopt a unified strategy that encompasses all managed and unmanaged devices with improved visibility, granular endpoint access control, continuous monitoring and mitigation and automatic MDM enrolment.

To find out more about Sandeep's view on BYOD security, read his blog post at "Don’t be a One Trick Pony with MDM as Your Stand-Alone Solution"

Jonathan Newell is a broadcast and technical journalist specialising in security systems and transport safety. He contributes to a range of titles in the technical press. He shares his time between the UK and Kazakhstan