Imagine switching your own smartphone to work mode during the day and back to personal mode once you leave the office.

In work mode, you can use all your business applications, meaning that you can access your email and employee database, while being able to file work-related expenses through wireless devices or laptops.

This phenomenon is called bring your own device, shortened in the industrial scene as BYOD, and it is getting ready to take off in Korea.

“With the introduction of the BYOD trend, you can use mobile devices like your personal tablet PC, smartphone and laptops for work use without having to log on to your desktop at all times,” said Yim Jin-sik, a researcher director at Gartner.

An increasing number of people and their affiliated local companies are paying more attention to the BYOD trend nowadays with a sharp rise in the number of personally owned mobile devices.

According to market research firm IDC, about 4 out of every 10 workers in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to put the BYOD concept into practical use by 2015.

Another report released by Intel said its BYOD program saved each employee up to 57 minutes a day in working time.

The global chipmaker, which launched a BYOD project in 2010, has expanded the number of enterprise applications for the program to 41 from 25. It also saw 23,500 personal devices of employees take part in the effort in 2012, up 38 percent from 2011.

For Intel Korea, many employees are already given laptops instead of desktops from the company, which takes away the benefit of using their own personally owned gadgets. They can participate in its headquarters’ BYOD program by simply applying for it; however, the range of applications may be limited, according to its officials.

Samsung’s mobile chief Shin Jong-kyun introduced its new security solution for enterprises called “Knox” during its new flagship smartphone Galaxy S4 launch earlier this month.

Stating that it is designed for business and enterprise users, the new mobile enterprise solution is expected to “separate space into work and play.”

The solution, which will be embedded in the Galaxy S4, keeps files, videos and photos separate, depending on whether it is for personal or work use.

It works by allowing users to access work-related information such as email, scheduler, contact information and files through a single sign-on function: pressing its “container” icon on the home screen of their handsets.

The smartphone security solution addresses platform security, application security and mobile device management, said Samsung officials.

When looking closely into the solution itself, it contains customizable secure boot and a kernel with built-in security-enhanced Android access controls. It also isolates enterprise applications and encrypts enterprise data.

The world’s top smartphone maker unveiled the solution for the first time at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month.

LG Electronics is also taking part in the BYOD trend by adopting the mobile smart office system since the latter half of 2011.

Through a download of its service offered in Korean and English, employees can view their intranet data from any location, speeding up the decision-making process and its implementation, according to company officials.

With an increasing number of local firms being able to carry corporate data on their smartphones and other portable electronic devices, data protection is becoming a hot topic in the corporate sector.

According to security firm Dell SonicWALL, the number of malicious codes targeting mobile devices is expected to jump 60-70 percent this year.

The firm also said the rise in the number of BYOD trend participants will bring new threats such as corporate data loss and financial dangers.

“Network access control, mobile device data protection and enterprise application management are issues that must be dealt with in the new BYOD era, which is a part of the upcoming ‘Mobility’ era,” said Yim of Gartner.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)