Users Too Lazy about Smartphone Security, Says Survey

According to a recent survey by The Ponemon Institute, almost 85% of consumers use the same smartphone for both professional and personal tasks. In those cases, if the user’s phone ever becomes lost or compromised, the amount of risk is doubled, since both kinds of private and confidential data could be accessed. Most users have no qualms about making purchases via mobile, yet less than half use keypad locks or passwords to secure their mobile devices, and only 29% said they have considered using a mobile antivirus application.

Most of us have no qualms about making purchases via mobile, and the vast majority of us use the same phone for business and personal use — two common vulnerabilities in web security. Yet in spite of these yellow flags, few of us use phone-locking passwords and duplicate the same passwords for mobile apps that we use on our desktops.  In fact, less than half of consumers in this survey used keypad locks or passwords to secure their mobile devices, and only 29% said they have considered using a mobile antivirus application.

One key finding we mentioned was the crossover between business and personal use of the same device. Around 84% of consumers use the same smartphone for both professional and personal tasks. In those cases, if the user’s phone ever becomes lost or compromised, the amount of risk is automatically doubled, since both kinds of private and confidential data could be accessed.

When it comes to the kind of data that puts consumers at further risk, 66% said they kept personal and personally identifiable data on their phones – such as an email address, name, contact lists, photos, videos, anniversary and personal dates, etc.  And 23% also said they stored passwords on their phones.

And we’re not as wary as we should be about mobile viruses, either. In fact, more consumers are bothered by mobile ads than by malware. Roughly 67% of consumers surveyed said they were concerned about receiving marketing ads and promotions, but just 44% said they were worried about the possibility of a mobile virus attack.

According to the survey, 66% have made at least one purchase on their phone, 38% make payments on their phones and 14% do mobile banking. A full 12% have been the target of attempted mobile payment fraud. Yet a mere 6% do a monthly check of their cell phone bill, and only 8% check their phone statement when it’s unusually high.

Article posted courtesy of Mashable at:  http://mashable.com/2011/03/25/mobile-phone-security/

Click here for a PDF of the 28-page survey.