IT departments expect more Macs, but most aren’t using encryption

People using Macs on corporate networks used to be rare. But today a lot more people want to use Macs over Windows at their jobs.
We wanted to take a look at how IT departments handle security for both Macs and Windows, so we asked IT pros in the Spiceworks community to answer a quick survey.* The results were unsurprising in some respects – Macs are growing in numbers, and security is becoming more of an issue.
But we also found out that, similar to how businesses handle data security in the cloud, a lot of IT departments aren’t currently encrypting data on Macs.

So, how do IT departments handle Macs on their network? Do they allow Macs, and how do they secure them?

Most organizations support or plan to support Macs

Only about 22% of those we surveyed said they don’t allow Macs at all, with the rest saying they fully support Macs, plan to support Macs, or support employee-owned (BYOD) Macs.

Number of Macs on organization’s network expected to stay the same or grow over time

Close to 42% of our survey respondents expect the number of Macs to increase in their organizations, while only 12% see that number decreasing. About 46% say the number of Macs in their businesses will stay the same.

Most organizations are not using encryption on their Macs

It’s a serious concern that so many businesses aren’t encrypting data on all devices, including Macs. Our survey found that only 21% of businesses are encrypting Macs.

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*Sample size of 211 survey respondents on Spiceworks.com, May 2014. Not all answers had 211 responses.