Pokémon Go brings cloudy times
Real and virtual are two opposites words that complement each other in a fascinating way.
Years back, virtual reality seemed like a Star Trek scenario, but now, it’s part of everybody’s life. Who wouldn’t want to take a journey between the real world and virtual world? Well, apparently more than 26 Million people are experiencing it with the Pokémon Go app. But, as the real world has its threats and risks so does the virtual world. Trojans, Viruses, Phishing-attacks, DDos-attacks, all these are real threats in a virtual world but we have real solutions to protect ourselves against them.
As an employer, you can’t fully control your employees personal devices within a work environment without a full MDM(Mobile Device Management) lockdown. Apparently, according to CloudLock report, 44% of all organizations have employees who have granted access to Pokémon Go using their company credentials, while 5.8% of an organization’s employees have installed the app.
Long story short, your employee registers to Pokémon Go using your company network and systems, which could grant full access to your company’ information. Full access means access to your business emails, files, maps, calendars, passwords and much more. So, if the games’ developer gets its system hacked, you and your company could be at risk.
Here are four reasons why Pokémon Go puts your business at risk
- Malware attacks! Downloading the app from third parties could bring not just the app, but also malware issues.
- Safety Hazards! Hunting Pokémon in the virtual world might disconnect your employees from the real one, and they even might enter restricted areas of your company. It has happened and happening now, it is a fact!
- Time wasting! Catch’em all but not during your work-time. If your employees are catching Pikachus instead of catching your core business interests, then you better create clear policies and encourage your staff to play during break times.
What you can do to ensure Pokémon Go safety at work!
We all know that banning the game is not an option as everybody would start to play it in other locations. Here are some thoughts on protecting your company and the employees:
- Creating a policy can help you manage your employees’ devices usage using effective guidelines and rules. For example, if your company handles sensitive information you can implement a ‘no camera’ policy.
- Use cloud-based PCoIP connections! Configure access to company information via remote desktop service and use a secure transmission protocol like PC-over-IP video feed. Ensure also that all sensitive data are constantly being wiped from shared devices.
- Check your employees’ performance. There can be two scenarios. The first one in which your staff performance dropped after this fascinating game appeared. If that’s the case, then you should have a serious talk with all your employees and explain the situation and search for a solution together. The second scenario would be the one with the same performance of your staff regardless of them playing or not the game. In this case, consider letting them use these types of apps. This can also be proof that you have a high-quality staff that manages their time in a very efficient way.
Pokémon Go requires full access but you need to have full control over your company, devices inside it and, of course, your employees.
Now that you know the threats hidden inside Pokemon Go, go and catch ’em all!
Photo source: http://www.pokemongo.com/
