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Mobile phones still lack security: F-Secure

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CIOL Bureau
New Update

BANGALORE, INDIA:F-Secure, a provider in Internet security services, today announced its mobile security results from its annual Online Wellbeing survey conducted in December 2008 in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, the United States, Canada, India and Hong Kong.

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The survey stated that mobile phone users still do not take security issues seriously, said a press release.

Despite being aware of the growing mobile security threats, 66 per cent of people surveyed worldwide do not have security software installed on their mobile phones, compared to 86 per cent in 2007, it added.

Samu Konttinen, VP, F-Secure's Mobile Business Unit said, "Considering the business volumes of mobile security vendors, it is unlikely that 17 per cent of mobile phone users really have a working security solution.”

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He added that the results shows that people don't necessarily understand the security issues related to their mobile phones. Smartphones today are more and more like small PCs and contain the same type of personal or work-related information.

“For this reason it is increasingly important to safeguard smartphones and their content against loss," Konttinen added.

The global survey showed that, on average, 55 per cent of respondents felt the individual user is responsible for the security on their mobile phones; 30 per cent thought the carrier was responsible and 15 per cent felt that the mobile phone manufacturers should be held responsible, the release added.

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In India, 46 per cent claim they have security software installed on their mobile phones and 58 per cent feel responsible for the security of their mobile phone versus the carriers.

Malware Awareness

The research also found that 30 per cent of the public thinks their mobile phones are at risk from malware, people are not taking action to protect themselves from the mobile security threats.

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Across all the countries questioned, only 17 per cent of respondents said they had security software installed on their mobile phones.

Over half of respondents were not sure whether they are safe using WiFi to access the Internet on their mobile phones. Almost a third think they are unsafe. Only 7 per cent are very sure that their Bluetooth connection is secure.

Overall, the study showed that mobile phone users still do not take high enough precautions themselves, but rely on a third party, said the release.

The third-party survey of Internet users aged 20-40 in the United States, Canada, UK, France, Germany and, for the first time, Italy, India and Hong Kong, tested the respondents' knowledge of online security issues and gauged their confidence in the safety of basic online activities, added the release.

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