In recent years, one of the ways that companies have been cutting costs to allow them to be able to spend more on the hiring of new staff members has been by becoming advocates of the highly popular bring your own device (BYOD) movement.

This allows companies to tell their employees to bring a laptop or tablet to work on which they can do their job.

However, while use of this can mean that firms are spending less on their IT output, and thus give them a higher budget for bringing in new members of staff, it is also important to make sure that data security is stringent.

With staff making use of their own equipment, virus tackling technology, and other security measures may not be as stringent as they would be if the whole process was centralised.
This can mean that money needs to be spent further down the line to rectify issues and recoup losses as a result of data leaks.

Matt Torrens, director at SproutIT.co.uk, said: "The big problem with that is you don't have control over these devices, initially at least.

"I think the sensible approach at the moment is one of extreme caution with BYOD. It's extremely expensive to manage and if you have a robust secure remote access system - utilising encrypted technology, you're most of the way to BYOD, but without a lot of the headaches."

He also went on to add that it can be vital for firms in the future to make the most of their IT departments to ensure that they train staff properly and stay safe with regards data security.

"Education of users [will become more important] as well, whether they be staff or barristers - education is really important. [Companies will need to] test and review any data security policies."

The best way to ensure that companies are keeping staff safe and up to date with the latest surrounding data security is to continuously update and retrain on their policy. This gives everyone new skills, and ensures happiness at work.