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Many smartphone users unaware of security threats says survey

by Sarah Griffiths on 15 February 2011, 12:37

Tags: AVG

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Red alert!

More than a third of smartphone users are unaware of the increasing 'significant' security risks associated with using their mobiles for financial purposes as well as to store personal data, according to a new study.

However, AVG Technologies and the Ponemon Institute revealed that while some users are completely clueless, 29 percent of smartphone owners surveyed have considered downloading free or paid-for anti-virus software to help protect their mobiles.

Of the 734 US consumers over 18 years old who own an iPhone, BlackBerry or Android device, the survey found that 13 percent said location data had been unknowingly embedded on their handset enabling others to track their location and just 21 people of those surveyed were aware this could happen.

Furthermore, 6 percent of respondents said that mobile applications had transmitted confidential payment information such as credit card details without the users' knowledge or consent and just 11 percent of respondents were aware this was possible.

Worryingly, 8 percent of smartphone users said their handset had been infected by malware called diallerware that enables criminals to make use of premium services or phone numbers resulting in unexpected monthly charges and 10 percent of those questions had heard of this risk.

JSmith, CEO of security firm AVG Technologies, said: "AVG and Ponemon Institute found that an alarmingly low percentage of smartphone users are aware of the security threats that exist today on many of the world's most popular devices including Android handsets and the iPhone."

"A clear opportunity exists to better educate consumers on the steps they can take to minimize their risk and exposure, such as downloading low cost and even free anti-virus products specifically geared to protect their mobile lifestyle and investment," he added- although it is not surprising given that AVG offers mobile security solutions.

Dr. Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of the Ponemon Institute, said: "Our research suggests that smartphone users lack the awareness and knowledge to protect themselves from a rash of security vulnerabilities."

The firm said that so far over 7 million Android users have installed AVG's free mobile security software called ANTIVIRUSFree on their handsets and around 50 thousand people are downloading it daily.

The company believes that this number will continue to grow as more consumers are made aware of mobile security risk.

HEXUS Forums :: 9 Comments

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Posted by Spud1 - Tue 15 Feb 2011 13:02
This is one reason I do really like my iPhone. The risk is so tiny (if you don't jailbreak), and i'll never need anti virus for it. It's one of the huge plus points of apples app vetting system.

Same can't be said for other smartphones though where it is scarily easy to distribute malicious applications. Part of the price of the freedom I guess.
Posted by Steve - Tue 15 Feb 2011 14:05
But you're only considering one vector there, Spud1, and that's malicious apps that get installed.

What about bugs in the web browser or one of the libraries that can be exploited to allow remote code execution?

The very fact that jailbreaking is possible means, surely, that malware could be written for it…

Still, I see no need for antivirus on the iPhone. In fact I'd rather phones didn't go the way of PCs and never need virus scanners.
Posted by Spud1 - Tue 15 Feb 2011 14:12
Of course, but the point is that anti virus wouldn't/couldn't help here due to the very nature of those issues, and the way that the processes run in isolation (with a general lack of IPC) is another contributing factor.

There is a tonne of malware out there for the iPhone as well, but users don't become vulnerable to 99.99% of it until they jailbreak. There was the PDF issue of course, but even that had very limited impact in reality.

My point was really that as a platform, iOS is much less susceptible to the kind of issues raised in the article, due to the closed nature of the platform.
Posted by Grey M@a - Tue 15 Feb 2011 14:19
The other point is, more and more people are using their phone's as they would a PC, downloading files, video, pdf's etc all which can have gaping holes in them.

For now people maybe relatively safe as long as you know what you are doing but with the mass push to smartphones and phones doing more and more, its only a matter of time before people turn their attention to the phones and their systems to target. If you really think the phone is a safe platform in the future then I would think about protecting yourself. As with anything and as Steve has mentioned, if its made, it will normally be broken, iOS, Android, WP7, nothing is safe 100%, its only a matter of time.
Posted by crossy - Tue 15 Feb 2011 14:31
However, AVG Technologies and the Ponemon Institute revealed that while some users are completely clueless, 29 percent of smartphone owners surveyed have considered downloading free or paid-for anti-virus software to help protect their mobiles.
Funny that should be “revealed” by a company that sells a “solution”. AVG, (or at least the mobile division) would do better to try spending some of that promotional effort on their customer support. :p
Spud1
This is one reason I do really like my iPhone. The risk is so tiny (if you don't jailbreak), and i'll never need anti virus for it. It's one of the huge plus points of apples app vetting system. Same can't be said for other smartphones though where it is scarily easy to distribute malicious applications. Part of the price of the freedom I guess.
iPhone is not “malware proof” - what about browser exploits for one, and I'd love to hear your bleating justification for that “scarily easy” crack. Not sure about WP7, but I know with Android you've actually got to explicitly switch non-GoogleMarketPlace sources on, and even when you do there's a “big scary warning” that what you're doing is probably not the best idea. Actually what the Android warning says is:
Your phone and personal data are more vulnerable to attack by applications from unknown sources. You agree that you are solely responsible for any damage to your phone or loss of data that may result from using these applications.

(Actually, anyone out there know what the WP7 policy on app installs etc are - I guess there's a WP App Store, so presumably it's the same deal as GMP?)

Yes, I do have a virus scanner on my phone - but that's really there to scan attachments etc so I can be passably sure that I'm not passing anything nasty onto anyone I forward the docs to. Oh, and it causes me a lot less hassle than that steaming pile of —- (insert your own choice of description here) that calls itself iTunes for Windows. :censored:

I agree that the risk to iOS devices isn't that large at the moment, but that's no cause for complacency. Remember that they said SCADA systems were probably pretty secure - but that's not the same as “secure” - trust no-one! :vacant: I didn't bother labouring the point that the “closed systems are more secure” mantra is exactly the same pile of fertilizer that we've been whipping Microsoft for years about - mainly because WP7 is also closed, as are one or two of the bits of Android (the Google apps specifically, although the OS is open source - and so theoretically open for independent code inspection for vulnerabilities)

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