Every year, millions of dollars are lost by companies due to intellectual property thefts. To prevent such thefts, corporate IT security has concentrated on safeguarding and protecting one valuable information storage asset: the company computer system. Corporations spend countless thousands of dollars each year looking for the best software, personnel, and hardware to protect these treasure mines of information. In these computers we store not only company secrets, but also valuable employee information. If there is a breach in security, the IT staff are often among the first responders. A profitable company cannot afford to have trade secrets fall into the wrong hands.

Ironically, there is a common device which has been utilized by corporate thieves and nefarious individuals for several years but yet overlooked by IT professionals…the cell phone. Unfortunately, while corporate IT has been concentrating on computers, company secrets have been flying out of the corporate walls via cell phone text messages, IM’s, pictures, and e-mails. Additionally, with the proliferation of successful and readily available spyware programs for cellular devices, corporate intellectual property is, now more than ever, in danger of walking straight out on company employees’ hips.

Recently a former White House Deputy Chief of Staff stated “We are entering the time period that everyone knew would come; when smartphones are becoming infected just as we’ve seen with personal computers.”

As cell phone models progress in complexity, there is the ever growing request by individuals and corporations to not only make the cell phone an extension of the company computer, but to make the cell phone a computer in itself. This convergence of the two devices is steadily growing as new cell phone models hit the marketplace. Add to these new devices malware that can open cell phone microphones without the unit being turned on, monitor in real time actual phone conversations, and copy and send all text messages from the cell phone to a “third party” and your corporate IT department has a new, big headache.

Criminals are ahead of the game. But it’s time for corporations and businesses to catch-up. The odds are against you. You will have a security breach involving a cell phone. Your company most likely has already had an occurrence. So are you prepared?

The following are steps every company should take to get a handle on their cell phone security:

1. Uniformity of the Company Cell Phone: Many companies allow their employees to pick their own cell phones for company use. This will only lead to immense problems when an investigation is initiated because most cell phones have their own proprietary software. With over 1,400 cell phone models today, there is no way you can expect your IT professional to know how to effectively acquire data from each of these models and operating systems. The solution: all company cell phones need to be the same make, model, and on the same service network. This will allow the IT department to gain expertise in that one cellular operating system and make its investigations more timely, profitable, and successful. Also, having one service provider will ensure a faster response time should you need the provider’s assistance in an investigation.