While a staggering 32% of consumers have a bank or credit card assigned to their mobile handset, half of them have no security around it and 40% of them don’t care, considering convenience more important than security.
So finds a study of 1000 UK consumers by, ehem, security provider Tripwire carried out in December, which also uncovered that on average shoppers will spend approximately £260 using their mobile devices, however only 2 percent would be comfortable spending over £1000.
The study also revealed that 36% of consumers have their mobile phone linked to their corporate network, yet almost a fifth (18%) of these people also do not have any security installed on their device. In addition, 17% of consumers also admitted to holding business data on their mobile device. These figures ultimately highlight the fact that consumers are putting their employer’s data at risk as well as their own.
Gavin Millard, EMEA technical director at Tripwire, says: “The results from our survey highlight the fact that consumers are still not recognising that cybercriminals are targeting mobile devices to collect personal information and for financial gain. Because mobile devices are linked to corporate networks and credit cards whilst storing a huge amount of private data, there is a much greater need to keep them secure and protected. Adding a PIN to your lock screen, checking the validity of apps before installing them, and ensuring the SSL certificates on shopping sites are correct is easy to do and will help keep the data stored on mobile devices safe from cybercriminals.”
