4 ways wearables will impact on your company’s BYOD policy

James Bond is one of the world’s premier spies, but he’s not doing it alone. At the beginning of every film, he’s provided a variety of high-tech spy gadgets — from glasses with cameras to communicator watches — which inevitably gets him out of whatever sticky situation he finds himself in.

While Hollywood has a bad habit of making things up, the proliferation of tech-enabled gadgets is a reality for everyone. Your employees have ready access to spy gadgets that can record and distribute your confidential info, exposing your company before you even realize what’s happened.

As a business owner, it’s important to not only be aware of Google Glass, Pebble Watch, and more, but to also address the usage of such gadgets in your BYOD policy. Instead of treating them on a case-by-case basis, consider these issues to proactively incorporate wearables into your company policy:

1. Be Aware of your surroundings

What’s most important to understand about wearables is that many have recording functions. Your company’s operations department often deals with private customer info, including Social Security numbers, account numbers, etc. Video and audio recording devices are normally banned from areas where confidential data is being accessed to maintain customer security.

Depending on the security level of each section, you may need to ban wearables in some areas of your company. This includes places like the mailroom, processing centers, and even customer service — where confidential customer data could inadvertently appear in the background of something as harmless as a Snapchat.

If you’re wary of an outright ban, you can go with a “blue sticker” policy. Many companies, such as Samsung, require employees who work around product manufacturing to cover all phone and laptop cameras with provided blue stickers, and management actively looks for these stickers in the impacted areas. This policy isn’t as airtight, but it presents a less stringent option.

2. Store information properly

Not only can wearables capture confidential data, but they can also store it, transfer it, and distribute it. There are scenarios in which a wearable camera could help in the workplace. A surgeon, for example, could use Google Glass to film a surgery for training and create a video for medical students to access later. Likewise, that same surgeon could stream the entire operation to consult with another specialist during the surgery.

While this is a huge advantage, the problem is that the device now carries private and confidential information. If the surgeon leaves his device at a bar or in a taxi or has it stolen, not only is that expensive piece of equipment gone, but it also contains sensitive data that could harm your company. Consider purchasing wearable technology only for use on company premises, and be sure your BYOD policy addresses the storage of confidential info on wearables like any other USB device.

3. Safeguard against hackers

If it wasn’t enough to simply store data, many wearables can transmit the data over the internet. This creates multiple problems. Not only do you have to worry about your employees sending information, but it’s also possible for a random hacker to access the device. Are your employees tech-savvy enough to realize when their devices have been remotely compromised?

Addressing this issue is essential to your company’s data security. Encrypting all company data that resides on wearable devices and only allowing it to be decrypted on company property is one technique that can ensure that hackers trying to connect to wearables off-premises won’t be able to retrieve any sensitive data in an unencrypted format.

4. Don’t simply ban wearables

Although it may seem like a good idea to ban wearables like USAA did, some may earn their keep in the workplace. Wearables have a lot of positive uses, including the surgeon scenario mentioned above. They can even be used to provide a second form of authentication.

Two-factor authentication is often described as the next generation of the password, requiring a user to input both his password and a code randomly generated by a second device associated with that user. In the workplace, dongles are often used for this purpose, but apps like Google Authenticator allow a smartphone or tablet to be used. With this authentication system in place, wearables can actually make your company more secure.

Not every gadget from the James Bond franchise has made the leap from the silver screen to reality, so don’t expect your employees to show up to work with laser pens or exploding gum. (If anyone at Wrigley is working on this, though, I’d be happy to volunteer for the beta!) Wearables do exist, however, and the sooner you address them with your employees, the more secure and productive your company will remain.

What effect do you see wearables having on your company’s security?