Welcome to my blog series on the topic of unmanaged devices!

More and more users are working from unmanaged devices than ever before. But unfortunately, because of this trend, risks are also rapidly increasing. If we don’t implement security measures for these devices, malware infections, successful phishing attacks, exploited vulnerabilities, and data leaks will happen more frequently and easily.

It’s not hard to guess why because these unmanaged devices have fewer security controls enabled to prevent such risks. In 2023, nearly nine out of ten successful ransomware attacks were carried out through unmanaged devices. Also, recently, we have seen the rise of QR Code Phishing. This new attack targets users scanning malicious QR codes from (mostly unmanaged and unprotected) mobile devices. 

Even without considering cyberattacks, allowing users to access and download sensitive data onto their personal devices is a considerable risk. If such a device is lost or stolen, or if the user quits or loses their job, the data will remain on the device without the ability for the company to wipe it. 

Luckily, Microsoft offers many solutions to manage these risks. For example, managing company data, requiring endpoint protection, and limiting access from unmanaged devices. The best part is that you don’t even have to fully manage the device.

Blog posts

Here is a list of previously written and planned posts for the unmanaged devices blog series. In this series, I’ll discuss various strategies and methods to reduce security risks when dealing with unmanaged devices. I will continue to update old posts and write new posts until I have covered the topic.

Besides the posts listed above, I have a couple more planned that I am not ready to reveal yet.

Wrap up

If you have any suggestions for new posts in this series, feel free to leave a comment, and I’ll gladly consider them.

Blog Series: Unmanaged Devices