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Author: Dan Gendro

Mobile payments draw attention to growing security concerns

Mobile Payments Security ConcernsMobile payments grow, and so too do security worries

Mobile payments are on the rise all over the world. More consumers are getting their hands on smartphones and tablets, allowing them to shop and purchase products online with nothing more than their mobile device and their financial information. Mobile commerce services are expanding, providing the infrastructure necessary to facilitate a new form of commerce among a wide range of consumers. As mobile payments become more common, they are attracting the attention of more than just consumers and businesses. Hackers are beginning to consider mobile commerce a very lucrative playground, and the growth of mobile payments is highlighting the security concerns that exist in this emerging field.

Mobile commerce may yet be vulnerable to threats

The mobile commerce field has successfully attracted several large companies, many of whom have investing in improving the technology used in the field. As the technology that forms the foundation for mobile payments improved, it becomes easier for consumers to make payments directly from the smartphone of tablets. Many of the technological updates have been focused on making mobile commerce more accessible to consumers, however, and not necessarily more secure. This has left many gaps in protection that could be exploited by malicious parties.

Malware targeting mobile commerce field is becoming more common

NQ Mobile, a leading developer of mobile security software, notes that more than 65,000 new malware threats were exposed throughout the world in 2012.  Much of this malware was designed to simply gain access to a mobile device and exploit its information in some way. A significant portion of these threats, which posed as unassuming and docile mobile applications, were designed specifically to steal a consumers financial information when they participated in mobile commerce in some way. NQ Mobile claims that the problem is serious and growing to become a major crisis if measures are not taken to address the issue of malware in the mobile commerce field.

Awareness of mobile security currently lacking among consumers

Mobile security is currently one of the largest challenges facing mobile payments today. Many consumers have shown that they are willing to purchase products, shop, or pay their bills with a mobile device, but relatively few actually do so due to concerns regarding the security of their information. There are several brands of security applications available to help protect mobile devices from malware that would exploit a consumer’s financial information, but awareness of these applications is still somewhat low among many mobile consumers.

Social media marketing a focus of new IDC report

social media marketing growthRecent research reveals mobile publishers are overtaking mobile advertising networks.

One of the latest reports published by IDC found that social media marketing giants like Facebook, Twitter and Pandora, are now dominating the mobile ad market industry, which was previously controlled by Apple and Google, as well as other large and small mobile ad networks.

The report results show there has been a big shift in mobile advertising.

According to the study, social media marketing claims 52% of the display advertising space. Mobile publishers are no longer taking a backseat to the usual mobile ad frontrunners. Instead, the IDC report shows that they are consistent in their overtaking of the ad market. This is a significant shift in mobile marketing advertising trends.

Mobile advertising networks are anticipated to continue to lose market share to social media marketing.

The report not only highlights that social media marketing publishers are dominating market share, but that is highly likely they will continue to do so. Karsten Weide, IDC’s Vice President of Media & Entertainment, observes that “Networks, especially independent ones, are entering a difficult phase, in which, with an ever smaller share of revenue, they’ll have to compete with publishers, which will only grow in strength.”

The growth rates of the mobile ad market in the U.S. continue to drop annually. In 2012, the market increased by 88%, which is quite the drop from 2011 when its growth rate had increased by 125%. That being said, despite the decline in market growth, mobile advertising has experienced a major increase in terms of spending. Last year, total spending amounted to $4.5 billion which is significantly larger than the $2.4 billion total in 2011.

In addition, the proption of the market that was represented by mobile from among all online advertising was up from 7% in 2011 to 11% in 2012. As for the future, IDC anticipates a 55% to 65% growth rate for the mobile ad market and for the U.S. to spend about $7 billion in mobile ads.

Based on what was revealed in the report, it appears that with social media marketing gaining a lot of strength, mobile ad networks will need to prepare for stiff competition in the mobile ad market.