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Survey: Gen Y Workers Want Mobile Devices; Prep Your BYOD Policies: Page 2 of 2

Try to deny them, and you may find that you not only put Gen Y workers at odds with the organization, but you also spur many of them on to renegade activity.

"Tech-savvy workers will find a way around the ban and still use personal devices for corporate email, document creation and sharing, presentations, etc.," says Siems.

A recent global survey by Fortinet lends credence to Siems' warnings. The survey found that, no matter how firmly stated the company's security policy, one in three Gen Y workers would do what they could to work around company policy in the interest of using mobile devices to help do their jobs. Many young workers were raised to consider access to information a right, not just a privilege.

The trick, then, is to come up with common-sense BYOD policies that will allow young workers to use their devices without jeopardizing corporate network security. A basic solution might look as simple as a VPN and two-factor authentication. Moving up the spectrum is setting up a virtual desktop, says Flynn.

"[That way] I am seeing the corporate information in a virtual manner," he said. "It only exists back at the corporation. It never gets on my machine."

Security might be the main concern in the BYOD workplace, but it isn't the only concern. The Fortinet survey cites a very immediate threat: time wasting. There's nothing new about employees spending loads of unproductive time on their computers. But the degree to which social media has become borderline addictive, especially among Gen Y workers, makes the threat that much more significant. According to the survey, 35% of Gen Y respondents claimed that they would have a hard time making it through the day without social networks; 47% said they'd feel very uncomfortable going a day without SMS text messaging. That signifies a high potential for a loss of productivity and, consequently, money.

Technology that limits these abuses is readily available, says Flynn.

"You can place controls in a network-centered approach, allowing you to place controls over what information goes back and forth. You can literally set it so that you can go on Facebook for an hour a day and these other people, they can go on Facebook whenever they want," he says.

Gen Y workers and the BYOD culture pose several significant challenges. The technology exists to help limit abuses, as long as the company's IT department has the resources and time to set it up and properly configure controls. The human element is always a huge challenge, says Flynn.

According to the Fortinet study, 66% of young workers feel that they, not their employer, are responsible for the security of their mobile devices. And while young workers are the main champions of independence, they are not alone.

Older, more experienced employees can give significant pushback, as well. Citing a CIO at a major medical facility, Flynn says, "I'm not going to tell a Nobel-prize winning scientist what he can do on the Internet."