Mobile device usage in higher education institutions in South Africa

Abstract

Cyber security threats are on the rise as the use of personally owned devices are increasing within higher education institutions. This is due to the rapid adoption of the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend. In 2014, 92% of students used laptops globally for academic purposes, 44% used tablets, and 68% used smart phones. In addition, 89% of higher education institutions in the United States and United Kingdom allow students, faculty and non-academic staff to access their network using personally owned mobile devices. A great concern is that although BYOD is widely accepted in higher education institutions, security is somewhat lacking. In addition, cyber-security threats have switched their focus to mobile devices. Therefore, the number of new mobile vulnerabilities reported each year has increased. Furthermore, in 2014, 10% of global cyber security breaches took place in the education sector with a total of 31 breaches resulting in the exposure of 1,359,190 identities. This placed the educational sector at the top of the list with the third most cyber-security breaches in 2014, behind the healthcare and retail sectors. A literature survey, together with a single explanatory case study involving a higher education institution in South Africa were used to determine typical mobile device usage in an academic context. As a result of completing the study, it is clear that there is a high demand for the use of BYOD in higher education institutions in South Africa and that BYOD is vital to the academic success of its students. This paper discusses mobile device usage in higher education institutions in South Africa. In addition, it provides some key factors for higher education institutions to consider when dealing with the increased demand for BYOD usage.