The COVID-19 outbreak has seen a great many more people working from home, which in turn likely translates to an increased reliance on personal computers, tablets, phones or other devices. A recent webinar hosted by the American Association of Law Libraries—"Bring Your Own Device: No Longer an Option"—looked at what that development meant for law firms, but what about corporate legal departments and their organizations?

To be sure, an influx of personal device use creates a unique challenge for companies attempting to safely maintain and account for the security of their data. Frank Gillman, a principal at Vertex Advisors Group, noted that a business rapidly expands the surface of its network when it brings personal devices into the mix. And the number of variables at play only increases from there.

"If I'm working from home, my kids might be on that same computer, my spouse. Who knows who is using these devices? … So much more data is potentially leaking because of shared use," Gillman said.