During a panel session at GITEX, Cisco released findings from its Middle East ICT Security study conducted among next-generation executives, which revealed that 65 percent of employees are putting their companies at risk by not understanding the security implications of using personal devices in the workplace.

Enterprises in the Middle East are increasingly feeling the impact of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend as IT departments are forced to implement mobility systems to manage the fierce increase in employee owned devices.

Cisco Visual Networking Index Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast estimating that in the MEA, there will be nearly 850,000,000 mobile users by 2017, Cisco believes that the region is rapidly approaching the time when nearly every network experience will be a mobile one. According to the research, 85 percent of respondents said they were allowed to use company-issued computers for personal reasons, with only half of companies surveyed having implemented specific security restrictions on devices and communicated the importance of ICT security to employees today.

The research indicated that enterprise security within Middle East organizations is being put under increasing pressure by the proliferation of devices brought into the workplace. The research also highlighted that almost half (46 percent) of all employees in the region are bringing at least one unsecured device to work. More worryingly, however, was that only 55 percent of companies surveyed have a plan in place to manage the use of these devices when used for work purposes.