Check Point's Third Annual Mobile Security Survey Highlights Careless Employees as Greatest Mobile Security Threat

SAN CARLOS, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 28, 2014) - Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today published its third mobile security report, revealing that 95% of respondents face challenges with securing and supporting Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) -- highlighting the need for more robust security solutions for personal devices tied to the corporate network.

For a full copy of third edition of the report, The Impact of Mobile Devices on Information Security, please visit: http://www.checkpoint.com/capsule/.

Based on a survey of over 700 IT professionals, the report highlights the ongoing concern at the ease of transporting sensitive corporate information outside of managed environments and details the potential mobile security threats due to lack of employee security awareness or training.

Key findings include:

• The Greatest Threat Resides Within Your Organization - 87 percent of surveyed professionals believed that the greater security threat to mobile devices were careless employees. Nearly two-thirds of the respondents believed that recent high-profile breaches of customer data were likely due to employee carelessness.
  
  
• Proliferate Use of Personal Mobile Devices on the Corporate Network - Despite careless employees as the weakest link into businesses, 91% of IT professionals saw an increase in the number of personal mobile devices connecting to their networks over the past two years. In 2014, 56% of those surveyed managed business data on employee-owned devices, up from 37% in 2013.
  
  
• Mobile Security Incidents Expected to Rise - 2015 is shaping up to be a risky year, according to those surveyed. Of the security professionals surveyed this year, 82% expect the number of security incidents to grow in 2015. Additionally, nearly all of the respondents (98%) expressed their concern about the impact of a mobile security incident, with the greatest concern being the potential for lost and stolen information.
  
  
• Cost of Mobile Security Incidents Continue to Rise - 2014 saw an increase in remediation costs for mobile security incidents. Of the IT executives surveyed, 42% noted that mobile security incidents cost their organizations more than $250,000.
  
  
• Android Continues to be Perceived as Having the Greatest Security Risks - Android risk increased from 49 percent in 2013 to 64 percent this year, as the platform with greatest perceived security risk -- as compared to Apple, Windows Mobile, and Blackberry.