BYOD Security Enhancement using Log Correlation in Corporate Environments

Abstract

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a concept in information technology that has become a prominent topic in the recent past. This concept continues to gain popularity due to its ability to give mobility and flexibility to IT operations in organizations. However, due to the rapid growth in the usage of mobile devices in corporate environments, many security concerns and risks have risen, which can easily compromise the business information and cause IT processes in organizations to malfunction. In my opinion, the effective use of BYOD can be beneficial to both the organization as well as the employees of that organization. In the one hand, corporate organizations will save money because it is no longer necessary to invest on purchasing electronic devices for every employee. On the other hand, employees will also find more satisfaction in getting their personal devices such as smart phones, tabs and laptops involved in work. However, this would also mean that employees will be able to access corporate information using personal devices, which are not always monitored by the organization. Further, employees may intentionally or unintentionally perform vulnerable activities using the BYOD equipment that can breach the security of organizational information. Such activities may also expose the corporate network and its information and assets to unauthorized parties. Thereby, even though BYOD brings mobility, convenience and more satisfaction to the work environment, the confidentiality and integrity of corporate information will be at risk. Therefore, to gain the maximum benefits from BYOD, special security measures that can ensure the safety of the organization’s information should be implemented. This is the main challenge in using the BYOD concept in corporate organizations. In spite of these challenges, BYOD is adopted in many corporate organizations at present as an accepted and properly defined concept because of its potential to contribute towards the organization’s efficiency. This study will focus on addressing the security concerns that threaten the effective use of this concept in organizations. In this study, I will look into analysing patterns in the traffic generated from BYOD equipment and focus on methods that can mutually relate these facts for suspected activities. The information gathered from this analysis will be helpful to enhance the security of BYOD equipment in corporate environment.