You're Leaking Because of Blackberry...sort of

Ok, so I am going to tell you a Blackberry story. Not the one you think you know from the news or tech articles. This is a story about you, your business, and all that really important company and customer data that is being seen by people whom you don’t want to see it. "Hey Rick, I don’t even use a Blackberry.” I know. Your mobile love fest begins and ends with either Apple or Android. But the gravity of the Blackberry universe still pulls on you. For all you Blackberry folks, don't get wound up. I am not a hater. In fact, I am very much a believer in what the product was: groundbreaking, innovative, and secure.

"You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes." -Morpheus

While many do not like the holy trinity of a Blackberry device, Exchange, and BES, the fact remains that RIM brought us the first real mobile business platform. You could send and receive emails, manage your calendar and contacts, and pretty much run your business life while riding the subway or in the airport bathroom.  And thanks to everything travelling to and from the mothership in Waterloo, it was secure. Above all else though, your IT department could centrally control and manage the entire experience. This was especially important for those of you engaged in top secret clandestine missions where your Blackberry may fall into the wrong hands. A swift click of the mouse and you could nuke the thing from across the globe (cue Mission:Impossible theme). That my friends is power. 

Summer of love
When the iPhone 2G came along in the Summer of 2007, a quiet smartphone revolution began. It was a slow burn that was further ignited when Android came along. See, besides the usual feats (think email, calendar, contacts, etc), these phones could do more. Much more. I'm not talking about lobbing birds at buildings, shooting zombies driving down the highway, or reliving those 80's concert moments with your faux Zippo lighter. I'm talking electronic boarding passes, reading all your news in one view, navigation, and Pandora. And then there is browsing. Yea, ask any Blackberry user about their Internet browsing experience and you will get a scowl followed by a series of colorful metaphors which are...well...they are just plain mean. 

When the bow breaks...
I know, where is the connection to you non-Blackberry users? I’m getting there. You need more info. Check this out. For a long time, companies have been tired of negotiating phone contracts with cell carriers. If you think you hate the experience as an individual, image doing it a hundred or even a thousand times. They also can't stand the cost of replacing the phones. Not just replacing them because of technology changes; replacing them as they go for a late night swim in the pool or have their aerodynamic properties tested in an unexpected manner (sidenote, the Blackberry Storm seems to excel here). But what they abhor most is the ongoing expense of keeping Blackberries going. Cross hairs on IT here. The endless support of Exchange, the costly support contracts for Blackberry Enterprise Server. And the beat goes on. These are hard, sometimes out-of-control expenses. And they are big ones. 

The cradle will fall...
About a year or so ago (maybe a tad bit more), as the three-way game of chicken between Apple, Google and RIM went on, the day had arrived where the unthinkable was now thinkable. Companies finally evoked the words of that great 20th century philosopher, Jackie Gleason, and said "straight to the Moon with you." This was the proverbial middle finger to the carriers and platform makers to indicate that mobile madness would not continue at the behest (and expense) of companies. In an instant, the genie was out of the bottle and its name was BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). It's easy really: you bring your own phone, pad, or tablet to the party.  Use whatever device you prefer. Get your mail, calendar, contacts…everything on YOUR phone. We as the company will give you (maybe) a monthly stipend to use your phone for "business needs." Wow, my own phone and cash in my pocket. My company is great! Wait, why would they do this? Easy. No more buying phones; no more contracts; no more software renewals. And yes, no more responsibility. Finally! One tiny issue though: no more central device management. Alas, here is the leak and why every business owner should now be concerned. Lean closer.

And down will come baby...
"Ok, so I get the whole Blackberry thing. I even get the BYOD thing. Where is the payoff? What about this leak you speak of and how am I affected even though I don't have a Blackberry?" The leak is your data. As the Blackberry kingdom unravels, so does information protection for a lot of companies. Put another way, the more iPhones and Androids that are used in the business world, the more your closely-guarded company data will leave your network without being checked. Why? Remember that little note about the loss of central device management? With no one watching the device, no one is watching what goes TO the device.  Think room full of 4-year-olds and a jar of cookies...with no teacher. Your customer database, your unpublished product costs, your source code, your proprietary research, your special formulas and predictive calculations you have developed for years your (insert your most important data here). Easily copied, zipped, attached to email and sent to a device. No one would ever know. All through the air, no cables required. Think it isn’t happening to you. Think again. And it's not some rogue group of operatives in your company (well, not most of the time). Check these stats from Watchguard Technologies:

73% of all data leakage that occurs is customer data

52% from internal employees

48% from hacking into network or mobile device

96% of internal data leakage is accidental

Bit by bit, you are leaking every single day. And remember, in these uncertain days of economic turmoil, even trusted people do untrusted things when they are invited to leave your organization, no matter what the history. Put another way, you sit down and conduct that exit interview with your soon-to-be-former employee. Perhaps he is smiling as a sense of relief. He's not. He's downloading your entire customer database to his iPhone while you are firing him.Welcome to the "new-new."  

As Paul Harvey used to say, “now you know the rest of the story.” (here is a link if you are too young to know of Paul Harvey) No longer will you dismiss Blackberry’s fall from grace as yet another tech company sleeping at the wheel of the getaway car. There is much more at play here. And it is affecting every business. You just didn't know how...until now.

Feel like you just got told about the Matrix? That’s good. That means you are now aware. Next blog I will tell you how that information is leaving your network and introduce you to the new sheriff in town. His name is DLP. No, it’s not the Texas Instrument television technology. More to come…