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 (downloadable from the public App Store) 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:
- 92
percent - all except for Banana Republic and Trunk Club - are capable
of accessing an Apple iOS device's GPS location tracking service.
- 69
percent, including Amazon, Disney Store, eBay, Groupon, Macy's,
Nordstrom, REI, Shutterfly, Starbucks and Target, are capable of
accessing an Apple iOS device's social media apps.
- 65
percent, including Amazon, Best Buy, Disney Store, eBay, Macy's, REI,
Starbucks, Target and Walmart are able to gain access to an iOS device's
address book.
- 58
percent, including Amazon, eBay, Etsy, Groupon, Macy's, Nordstrom,
Shutterfly and Walmart are able to gain access to the iOS device's SMS
messaging features.
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
organisation'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 organisations 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
organisations have standardised 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 organisation's BYOD policy."