Is Smarphone Mania Masking Security Laxness?

Ofcom yesterday revealed the results of a study showing that smartphones have officially overtaken laptops as the number one device Brits use to get online.

According to the report, British people are spending nearly two hours a day online using a smartphone and over a third of adults (34 per cent) check their phones within five minutes of waking up in the morning.

In light of the study David Kennerley, senior manager for Threat Research at Webroot, has highlighted the obvious security associated with a world of connected smartphones.

“Smartphones are no longer a nice to have. For the vast majority of us it is now a necessity – a way to keep in touch across all areas of our life. This was highlighted in today’s Ofcom report which reported that 2 in 3 of us now own such a device, a huge increase from 2012 when only 39 per cent owned one.

"Even more importantly, for the first time it surpassed the laptop as the ‘most important way to access the internet’ with 1 in 3 consumers opting to browse on their mobile.

“Despite the fact that the smartphone is now the device of choice for many; a hub on which we store all aspects of our life – both personally and professionally – many of us fail to protect it in the same way we do our laptops.

“Cyberattacks are more prolific than ever, and many businesses are clearly struggling to keep their employee and customer data safe. Cybercriminals look for the simplest method to achieve their objective and mobile devices offer an attractive attack vector, making it a common entry point for breaches to organisations.

“As we move to a mobile-first society, business should be very concerned about threats such as mobile malware, mobile vulnerabilities and data loss. It is important to implement a comprehensive mobile security strategy that considers both personal and corporate devices. This strategy should cover everything from threat protection and patch management to user education.

“By ignoring mobile device security businesses are risking their reputation and customer loyalty, which could potentially have huge financial repercussions.”

Image credit: Shutterstock/wk1003mike