The modern workplace is evolving rapidly, with more businesses moving towards a 'consumersation' of internal IT in order to cater to an increasingly tech-savvy workforce. 

In fact, a new report from Gartner – entitled Prepare for the Security Implications of the Digital Workplace – predicts that 25 per cent of large businesses will have implemented a strategy specifically designed to 'consumerise' their corporate computing environments by the year 2018. 

While this shift is bringing a number of significant collaboration and productivity benefits, it is also leading to security implications that today's organisations and IT professionals need to be aware of.

"Employee digital literacy has led to a growing consumerisation movement within most enterprises, with employees using a wide variety of consumer-oriented apps for business purposes," explained Gartner vice president Tom Scholtz.

According to Mr Scholtz, this movement towards an increasingly digital workplace is seeing IT departments lose control over servers and business networks, as well as devices and applications that employees use day-to-day. 

"In a fully consumerised workplace, the information layer becomes the primary infrastructure focal point for security control. This reality necessitates a shift toward a more information-focused security strategy," he said.

Gartner has suggested that the best way for businesses to adapt their IT security policies in light of this change is to start showing greater trust in employees, casting out restrictive security controls in the process.

By taking a "people-centric approach" to IT security, organisations can encourage employees to take on individual accountability. 

Mr Scholtz has suggested that organisations look to combine comprehensive information security education programs with greater collaboration between employees and managers in order to maximise security performance. 

This suggestion is further evidence of the ever-changing nature of cybersecurity and the modern digital environment, and highlights the importance of continued training and education in this field.