Surveys Show Smartphone Users Need More Mobile Security Education

IT Business Edge, By Sue Marquette Poremba

How do you know that mobile security is a hot topic? By all of the surveys and studies that have been conducted. It seems like my inbox and Twitter feed has blown up with a number of mobile security survey results over just the past few days.

A survey by Juniper Research found that more than 80 percent of smartphones aren’t protected from malware attacks. According to eSecurityPlanet:

The report attributes the low level of adoption of security software to several factors, including a relatively low level of consumer awareness about mobile device vulnerabilities and a general perception that security software is too expensive.

The findings also predict that by 2018, over 1 billion devices will have security installed, as opposed to the little more than 300 million today. Of course, in five years, how many more of us will be using mobile devices? A billion may be a conservative prediction.

Kaspersky Lab released findings from its consumer survey, which revealed that 34 percent of consumers take no additional security measures when connecting to public Wi-Fi. If consumers aren’t worried about taking security precautions, that doesn’t bode well for BYOD and the security of enterprise networks. Read more.