Companies are wary about what employees are doing on their smartphones. Be it data loss or time-wasting, a growing number of employers are actively stopping staff from using certain apps on company-controlled devices.
After surveying the 6,000 of the companies that uses its mobile security management software, MobileIron determined the top 10 consumer apps that are most often blocked or blacklisted at companies:
- Dropbox
- Angry Birds
- Microsoft OneDrive
- Google Drive
- Box
- Skype
- SugarSync
It’s perhaps no surprise that half of the positions in the top 10 are for file-sharing apps. Corporate IT managers are wary about giving users the ability to download and share internal files on apps that aren’t under corporate control.
“They are taking this old school blacklisting approach,”said Mike Raggo, director of security research at the Mountain View company. “If you’re blacklisting apps, users will find ways around it. There are new approaches you can take and we advise customers to focus more on enablement than restrictions.”
In many cases, the consumer versions of the apps are blocked while the enterprise versions are allowed, said Raggo.
Here are the top 10 apps currently deployed across MobileIron customers:
- Salesforce
- Goodreader (PDF reader for iOS)
- Microsoft Office Suite
- Cisco AnyConnect
- Box
- Cisco Webex
- Skype for Business
- Google Docs
- Evernote
- Xora Mobile Worker
It’s no surprise that enterprise apps dominate the home screen.
Author: Martyn Williams, Senior Correspondent
Martyn Williams produces technology news and product reviews in text and video for PCWorld, Macworld, and TechHive from his home outside Washington D.C.. He previously worked for IDG News Service as a correspondent in San Francisco and Tokyo and has reported on technology news from across Asia and Europe.