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Context Aware Security

A Survey of IT and Business Professionals

July 2015

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Executive Summary
Modern IT organizations must find a way to deal with the
requirements for securing corporate systems and data,
while allowing business users to be productive.

This research report, based on an online survey of

460 IT professionals and 301 business users, examines
how IT is managing these often conflicting goals and
how business users are impacted by corporate security.

We also investigate the perceived value of

context-aware security practices.

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Key Findings

Business Users: Security impacts productivity

• 85% have multiple login/password combinations
• 91% are negatively impacted by employer’s security approach
• More than half say security impact is increasing
• 87% say security is prioritized over employee convenience

IT Professionals: Security slows cloud and BYOD

• Cloud and BYOD beneficial, but security slowing adoption

IT Professionals: Context-aware security can help

• 27% have already fully embraced context-aware security
• 97% see benefits to context-aware security
• Lack of awareness is greatest barrier to adoption

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METHODOLOGY

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Goals and Methodology

Research Goal The primary research goal was to capture hard data
on experiences with and attitudes towards context
aware security among IT and business professionals

Methodology A series of online surveys were fielded to

independent sources of business professionals as
well as IT professionals. All participants worked at
companies with more than 1,000 employees and
lived in the US, UK, or Germany.

Participants A total of 761 individuals completed the survey

including:
• 301 full-time business professionals who use
computers or mobile devices in their work
• 460 IT professionals with responsibility for security

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SECURITY IS PRIORITIZED OVER
EMPLOYEE CONVENIENCE

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Everyone knows IT prioritizes security over
employee convenience
In your opinion, what is your
When making decisions about IT company’s philosophy about how
security, what is your typical much employees can be impacted
philosophy? (IT) in order to secure their electronic
assets? (Business)

IT 86% 14% We/They prioritize high

corporate security
standards over employee
convenience
Employee convenience is a
higher priority than
Business 87% 13%
corporate security
standards

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

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BUSINESS USERS ARE IMPACTED
BY SECURITY MEASURES

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91% of business users report their
productivity is impacted by security
How often do the security measures that your employer puts in place
negatively impact your productivity?

40% 38%
35%
91%
30%
25% 23%
20%
20%
15%
11% 9%
10%
5%
0%
Always Frequently Occasionally Rarely Never

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85% must keep track of
multiple work passwords
How many different login/password combinations do you need to keep
track of for the different files and applications that you require at work?

60% 56%

50%
85%
40%

30%

20% 18%
13% 11%
10%
2%
0%
None One 2–5 6 – 10 More than 10

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More than half say the day-to-day
impact of security is increasing
Consider the changes that have been made to security in your
corporate environment in the past 18 months. How would you
describe the difference?

There has been no

change
36%

Security has a greater

impact on my day-to-
day work
53%

Security is less
impactful on my day-
to-day work
11%

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 Almost half use their own mobile
device for work
Who MANAGES this mobile device
Who OWNS the main mobile device
including installing software and
that you use for work?
upgrading the operating system?
n = use smartphone or tablet for work

I manage my
My company
personal stuff
gives me money
and my company
to pay for it
manages the
3%
work stuff
12%

I own it
46%
I manage it
My company 51%
owns it
51%

My company
manages it
37%

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Mobile devices not always managed
by their owner
Who MANAGES this mobile device including installing software and
upgrading the operating system?
(by who owns the mobile device)
n = use smartphone or tablet for work

I manage it
"My company owns it" 33% 53% 14%

My company manages it

"I own it" 86% 5% 9% I manage my personal stuff and

my company manages the work
stuff

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

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95% access corporate assets on their
mobile device; 83% do so daily
How often do you access corporate assets (i.e. documents or
applications) on your mobile device?

35%

30% 30%
30%

25% 23%

20%

15%

10% 8%
5%
5% 3%

0%
More than 20 10 to 20 times a 1 to 10 times a Less than once a Less than once a Less than once a Never
times a day day day day week month

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82% of users who work remotely
must use additional security measures
Does your employer require you
to use ADDITIONAL security
Do you ever work remotely? measures when you are
accessing corporate resources
remotely (i.e. VPN)?

No
18%

No
42%
“Yes” only
Yes
58%

Yes
82%

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92% are negatively impacted when
required to use additional remote security
How often do additional security measures required outside of the
office negatively impact your ability to get work done?
n = use additional security when working remotely

35% 33% 33%

92%
30%

25%

20% 18%

15%

10% 9% 8%

5%

0%
Always Frequently Occasionally Rarely Never

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SECURITY SLOWS USE OF
BENEFICIAL SOLUTIONS

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Cloud increases productivity, but
security challenges prevent adoption
In your opinion, do cloud
applications increase employee
productivity?
In your opinion, do security
challenges prevent greater
adoption of cloud applications?

No
No
23%
26%

Yes
Yes
74%
77%

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BYOD increases productivity, but
security challenges get in the way
In your opinion, does BYOD
increase employee
productivity?
In your opinion, do security
challenges prevent greater
adoption of BYOD?

No
28%
No
39%

Yes
61%
Yes
72%

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IT has concerns about a wide variety of
security risks
Which of the following do you believe creates security risks for your
organization?

Employees finding workarounds to avoid IT-imposed security

69%
measures

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) 64%

Remote workers with access to corporate information 63%

Outsider threats pretending to be legitimate end users 63%

Third-party external cloud applications 48%

None of these create security risks 2%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

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IT SEES CLEAR BENEFITS TO
CONTEXT-AWARE SECURITY

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Context-aware Security

Definition Context-aware Security is a concept of using

previously unrelated points of risk data to
create a general “risk score” that can be used
to make real-time decisions and security
enforcement.

IT participants were asked to read and agree that they

understood this definition before proceeding with the survey.

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Context-aware security has been
fully adopted by over a quarter
Does your organization have a context-aware approach to security?

No, we have one Yes

standard security 28%
protocol in place
for all users and
environments
24%

In some areas, but

not all
48%

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97% see benefits in context-aware
security
Which of the following possible benefits of context-aware security
would be beneficial to your organization?

Prioritize threats based on context such as types of

55%
applications targeted
Gain visibility into the context when assessing risk 47%

Address changing security needs in real-time 47%

Assess threats based on potential level of harm 43%

Use situational or environmental data to monitor security
42%
threats
Improve worker productivity without sacrificing security 41%
Create and leverage policies to automatically map
35%
enforcement to a situation
Positively impact business productivity company wide 29%

None of these would be beneficial 3%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

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93% say lack of context-aware
security causes challenges
Does a lack of context-aware security cause challenges?

Difficult to quickly address changing security needs 53%

Non-standard access needs require IT intervention 47%

Employee productivity is impacted unnecessarily 36%

Can’t analyze how and why restrictions are managed

32%
to improve worker productivity

No challenges 7%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

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Lack of awareness the greatest
barrier to context-aware security
What is the greatest barrier or challenge to delivering a context-aware
security practice in your organization?

Lack of awareness of the need for context-aware

42%
security

Lack of knowledgeable people 26%

Lack of money 17%

Inability to access tools 15%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

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PARTICIPANT PROFILE

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Participants Represented – Business Users
Country Company Size

Germany United States

34% 33%
More than 1,000 - 5,000
5,000 47%
53%

United
Kingdom
33%

Devices used for work

Desktop computer 73%

Laptop computer 61%

Smartphone (i.e. iPhone, Android Phone,

55%
Blackberry)

Tablet (i.e. iPad) 34%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

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Participants Represented – IT
Role Country

IT manager or United States

administrator 33%
Germany
52% CIO, VP or
32%
other IT
executive
48%

United
Kingdom
35%

Security Responsibility Company Size

IT security is my
entire job More than
32% 5,000
43%

IT security is a
part of my job
1,000 to 5,000
68%
57%

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For more information…

About Dimensional Research

Dimensional Research provides practical marketing research to help
technology companies make smarter business decisions. Our researchers
are experts in technology and understand how corporate IT organizations
operate. Our qualitative research services deliver a clear understanding of
customer and market dynamics.
For more information, visit www.dimensionalresearch.com.

About Dell Software

Dell Software helps customers unlock greater potential through the power
of technology—delivering scalable, affordable and simple-to-use solutions
that simplify IT and mitigate risk. The Dell Software portfolio addresses five
key areas of customer needs: data center and cloud management,
information management, mobile workforce management, security and data
protection. This software, when combined with Dell hardware and services,
drives unmatched efficiency and productivity to accelerate business results.
For more information, visit www.dellsoftware.com.

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