BYOD stands for bring your own device, and the most commonly accepted BYOD meaning is when employees use their own personal devices to connect to the organization's network and access what they need to do their jobs. This includes data and information that could be potentially sensitive or confidential.

The devices used for BYOD could include smartphones, tablets, personal computers, laptops, or USB drives. This offers employees more freedom to use the devices that make them better able to perform day-to-day tasks, which, in the long run, saves employers money. However, BYOD has to be carefully managed with a focus on maintaining security and productivity.


What Are the Pros and Cons of Having a BYOD Policy?


  1. Faster technology: With a BYOD policy, an organization benefits from the faster adoption of new technologies, as well as devices that provide faster performance and more computing power. Keeping up with changing technology can be expensive and time-consuming for an IT manager, but if employees bring their own technology, there is no need to constantly update the company’s technology portfolio.
  2. Less time to train employees: When an employee brings their own device, they typically already know how to use it. Often, transitioning from one operating system to another comes with a learning curve that can increase the amount of time it takes for a new employee to get up to speed. In this way, a BYOD policy can enhance productivity.
  3. Lower up-front costs during onboarding: If an organization has to purchase a new device, new virus- and malware-protection software, and train new employees regarding how to use the device, the costs can quickly pile up. With BYOD, these costs can be a fraction of what they would be otherwise. With each new employee, an IT team frequently has to provide new security protocols to make interaction with the network secure. Employees often have more than adequate security in place on their own devices, and with a BYOD policy, they can be asked to purchase a security solution before accessing the network.
  4. Employer saves more money: Constantly purchasing new technology to make sure employees have effective devices can represent a significant cost on a company’s balance sheet. With a BYOD policy, much of the cost was already absorbed by the employee when they purchased the device. In addition, when employees bring their own devices, they are also responsible for upgrading as needed. Not only does this shift the cost away from the company but it also compels the employee to treat their device with more care. When employees take ownership of the maintenance of their device, the company has one less thing to pay for, freeing up crucial overhead.



  1. Increased complexity for security protocols: Because each device comes with its own vulnerabilities, including those it may introduce to the organization’s network, you may need to create a more complex arrangement of protocols to make sure each device is safe and does not pose a threat to the network.
  2. Increased security risk: Each type of device and operating system will require its own security measures so that all endpoints are safe from threats. A device policy that allows employees to bring their own technology may expose the organization to more risk unless each one is properly protected.
  3. Device as a distraction: Most people have apps on their personal devices that can present significant distractions. Messaging apps, games, and social media apps, for example, can easily grab an employee’s attention when it should be focused on the task at hand. The problem is exacerbated by the specialized app presets that already exist on an employee’s device. These make it easier to log in to social media networks and other cloud-based apps. Because their browser settings and cookies are tailored to their own personal use, when employees are online, they can come across distracting pop-ups and ads customized to grab their attention.
  4. Limited privacy: With a BYOD policy, both employees and the organization may face privacy issues. For an employee, their personal device, including all its information, data, and passwords, becomes exposed to the companywide network. For an organization, information, data, marketing collateral, and even trade secrets may all have to pass through the personal devices of individual employees, who may not be as discreet as they should be. In addition, each device an employee introduces to the network opens a potential door for malware that could be used to steal sensitive company files.


How Can FortiNAC Support a Successful BYOD Policy?

With so many Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices accessing cloud networks, it is more important than ever to have adequate visibility into the devices attached to your network. Every time a device interfaces with your cloud network, it opens the possibility for data to be taken or mismanaged.

An employee may also accidentally allow a hacker to get into the network because their device is not secure enough. It is an easy mistake to make. The device may feel secure on a day-to-day basis and even show zero signs of being infected with malware. However, that does not mean it should automatically qualify to access your network. 

This is particularly true if your organization is well-known for its BYOD policy. People with ill intentions may target your organization, knowing that if they can access the device of an employee, they could gain a back door into your network. Without properly screening each device, you are potentially giving a hacker easy access to sensitive content and important cloud infrastructure.

With a BYOD policy, it can be a challenge to control or monitor who is connecting, what they are connecting with, and the risks each device poses to your network. It is crucial that you carefully screen all access to the network, and this is what FortiNAC enables you to do.

FortiNAC lets you see which devices are connected to the network, so you can evaluate the risk each one poses. With this knowledge, you can figure out how to best protect your network. FortiNAC also allows you to set up automated responses to save you time and energy as you try to manage a BYOD policy.


Benefits of FortiNAC

FortiNAC can be deployed as a standalone measure or as part of the Fortinet Security Fabric. If the rest of your security solution is adequate, as a standalone service, FortiNAC still gives you powerful tools that make a BYOD system safer.

Automation, Control, and Enforcement of IoT and Endpoints

With FortiNAC, you have the automation, control, and enforcement of IoT and BYOD endpoints under the roof of one solution. With the ever-evolving IoT landscape, it can be difficult to ensure the safety of the network, particularly a cloud environment that is accessible by a range of devices. FortiNAC provides you with the flexibility to automate how the system responds to devices that may pose a threat. This way, there is no need to invest in significant human power to address problems that stem from novel devices gaining access to the network.

With FortiNAC, you also have control over the protocols you use to vet the various devices employees may bring to the table. You can set parameters to keep certain types of devices on the outside, protecting your organization from potentially dangerous threats. Some devices come with a lower security threshold, as do many users. Keeping these away from your organization's digital infrastructure until any threats have been eliminated can enhance the safety of your organization. FortiNAC gives you that flexibility.

Enforcing your policies around BYOD can present a list of obstacles, particularly when there is no system in place to manage the implementation of each policy. With FortiNAC, you can set up the system to apply elements of your policy automatically. For example, if certain devices are not allowed on the network, you can use FortiNAC to prevent them from accessing the network.

Less Strain on IT Teams

FortiNAC also helps ease the burden put on under-resourced IT teams. Many IT teams are stretched thin as it is. Updating, managing, and troubleshooting technology is an ever-growing challenge. Adding a BYOD policy to the mix could add even more stress. Figuring out which employees are bringing which devices, as well as the threats that come with each device, could add even more strain to your IT team. With FortiNAC, elements of the BYOD process can be automated, giving your IT team more time to focus on other objectives.

Further, with FortiNAC, there is no need for members of your IT team to waste days or hours figuring out the source of a range of problems that could be caused by a BYOD policy. FortiNAC can identify issues right away and alert the IT team as to the source of the problem. Instead of wasting precious time trying to deduce what caused the issue, the IT team just has to grab the data from FortiNAC.

With FortiNAC, you can maximize the benefits of a BYOD policy while minimizing the risks. This way, the organization can save time and valuable resources while allowing employees to do their jobs more comfortably, faster, and safer.


How Fortinet can Protect Against Vulnerabilities

Fortinet helps businesses remain secure against the unknown of zero-day attacks in the modern threat landscape. It provides an integrated security solution that spans the entire distributed network environment and offers deep integration required to automatically respond to new threats. 

The Fortinet FortiWeb product enables businesses to defend against zero-day risks with input validation and sanitization and prevent attacks at the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) level. The Fortinet FortiGuard Labs team is committed to discovering new and emerging threats and delivering instant protection to Fortinet solutions before such threats pose a security problem for organizations. 

Fortinet products can be configured to receive automatic updates every time our team identifies a new threat. This applies across businesses’ FortiGate firewalls as well as every product deployed on their network.