The number of employee-owned smartphones and tablets in the enterprise will break the 1 billion mark by 2018 as the growing trend of BYOD (bring your own device) changes the business landscape. This represents almost 35 percent of the total number of consumer-owned tablets and smartphones.

That’s what Juniper Research is forecasting in a new report, which says there are a number of issues and implications that need to be addressed before that time. A single policy or measure may not be sufficient while developing future BYOD strategies.

While BYOD has the potential to benefit businesses in terms of enhanced employee satisfaction and productivity, the threat from unprotected employee mobile devices is important to watch. For businesses adopting BYOD, there is a need to consider mobile devices as just another endpoint while devising measures to mitigate the challenges and the risks of managing a multi-platform environment, Juniper noted.

The researcher forecasts a steady growth in revenue for security software in the consumer segment, approaching 40 percent of global mobile-security sales revenue by the end of 2018. This will be driven primarily by increased consumer awareness of available security solutions and of the risks posed by fraud and malware to data stored on and accessible via their smartphones and tablets.

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