The rise of mobile devices has createduncertainties regarding what authority a company has over anemployee's personal device if it is also used for work-relatedactivities, and what actions a company must take if a device islost or stolen, according to experts.

Mobile devices are vulnerable to cyber attacks just like desktopcomputers and laptops are, according to Larry Collins, vicepresident, e-solutions, risk engineering at Zurich NA. Speakingyesterday during Advisen's webinar, “Cyber Security: The GrowingLiability of Handheld & Mobile Devices,” Collins explained thatthese devices are essentially mini or micro computers, and he addedthat any computer system that has a networked connection orsoftware system can be broken into and hacked.

Additionally, because devices such as smartphones and tabletsare small and portable, they are easily misplaced. John Mullen, apartner with Nelson Levine de Luca & Hamilton, said during thewebinar that the TSA had to lease a new warehouse just to storedevices misplaced and left behind at airports.