While most fear internet threats, not many do something about it

Sep 23, 2011 06:37 GMT  ·  By

Smartphones have become the equivalent of really small computers, which means that they too require some degree of protection against threats coming from the internet. Most owners are aware, but a few actually do something about it.

According to BGR, The NPD Group recently made a study called ““Emerging Technology Trends: Mobile Security” in which they questioned more than a thousand iPhone and Android smartphone users about the security measures deployed on their devices.

The numbers show that the biggest security concern is related to credit card information theft and unsolicited activity monitoring. Location tracking, spam and malware are also on the list, but they're not as feared as the above or things like the physical theft or loss of the device.

It seems as 82% of smart mobile phone owners don't have any security applications installed on their machines, but the higher part of this figure comes from iPhone holders, as only 6% of them implements some sort of a protection solution.

“Even though iPhone users are less concerned than Android users about device security, they are still clearly worried,” revealed Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis for NPD. “Their biggest concerns were much more likely to be fears that their iPhone would be stolen or damaged, than any unwanted or harmful activities,” he further added.

Many don't realize that their phones can be infected or compromised just as easily as a desktop or laptop computer and that's why it's hard for them to consider installing such applications. Costs are another issue, as close to 25% of those who haven't installed anything feel that security solutions are too expensive, while on the other hand, most of those who do secure their apparatus say they've purchased the utilities for less than $3 or even for free.

“While smartphone owners are worried about security threats, they are also thoroughly confused about what to do about them,” Baker said.

Because the smartphone market is fairly new, people still look at their machines as being regular phones. Some time will pass before people will realize that threats on their mobiles can be even more serious than the ones on a PC, but it will probably take a few malware campaigns and a few data loss breaches before we get there.