Tag: smartphone security

Mobile security policies in place at only 14 percent of businesses

| August 29, 2013

The majority of companies have not fully implemented a policy for the use of wireless devices.

According to the results of a study that have recently been released, only 14 percent of companies have put a fully developed mobile security policy into place for their computer networks.

At the same time, the number of threats and incidents within that environment are rapidly rising.

Furthermore, the study also discovered that the majority of the companies that do not have mobile security policies in place also have no intention of limiting the use of personal smartphones and tablets for work-related purposes. The research in question was the Global Corporate IT Security Risks 2013 study From B2B International, which was conducted among businesses worldwide, this spring, in collaboration with Kaspersky Lab.

B2B International’s statement about the mobile security study was that many companies had experienced data leaks.

Mobile Security policiesIt revealed that among the respondents of the survey by B2B International, 6 percent of the companies had experienced a mobile security data leakage of confidential information at least once within the previous 12 months. Though this may represent an increase of only 1 percent over the figures from 2012, the attacks on smartphones and tablets led to a larger number of critical data leaks than any of employee fraud (at 4 percent), phishing attacks (at 5 percent) or corporate espionage (at 3 percent).

According to the release regarding the study’s results, “The reason is obvious; more mobile devices – smartphones and tablets – are being used at work on a daily basis. These devices are also often owned by the employees themselves, and so are used for personal as well as business purposes.”

It also pointed out that while the ability to add both corporate and personal data (such as apps and contact lists) on a single device is highly convenient, it also means that there is a considerably higher mobile security risk to the business. Almost 65 percent of the participants in the survey admitted that they allowed their workers to bring their own devices (also known as bring your own device – BYOD – where workers use their own personal smartphones and tablets for work purposes). This is clearly a growing threat to corporate IT infrastructure security when the fact that no protection policies have been put in place.

Mobile security is presenting a growing threat

| August 26, 2013

The latest information released by Trend Micro shows that the landscape is changing due to malware.

The Threat Security Roundup from Trend Micro has just been released and it has suggested that issues regarding mobile security threats are starting to change the trends in the overall protection and digital landscape.

Cyber criminals are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the way that they target smartphones and tablets.

Though the use of malware as a mobile security threat is nothing new, and it has been increasing for some time now, criminals are making much more complex and sophisticated attacks, says Trend Micro. According to the Trend Micro SA country manager, Gregory Anderson, “Our most recent threat report shows that cyber criminals have absolutely no regard for the privacy of Google Android smartphone and tablet users.”

Anderson pointed out that malicious apps over Android are creating a higher risk mobile security environment.

Mobile Security ThreatsIn fact, he stated that there has been an increase in high risk, malicious apps on that operating system by nearly 30 percent over the last quarter. Anderson explained that “Our Trend analysts tracked 718 000 separate instances of high-risk Android apps in the second quarter, up from 509 000 high-risk apps found in the first three months of this year. Based on these figures, we estimate that the number of high-risk Android applications available on the market will exceed a million by the end of 2013.”

The Android malware that has the greatest sophistication so far, has been nicknamed “obad” malware. It was discovered by Kaspersky Lab, which was also responsible for coming up with that nickname. It was that firm that identified the “master key” vulnerabilities that provide criminals with a way to quickly and easily take advantage of Android system weaknesses.

This problem has been a primary contributor to the skyrocketing increase in mobile security threats, particularly in smartphones and tablets that are Android based. At the very top of the list, according to Trend Micro’s report, is United Arab Emirates, in terms of the highest download volume of malicious apps. This was followed by Myanmar, Vietnam, and Mexico, in that order.