As if your PC wasn't enough, hackers are going after your phone

Forget your PC. Hackers are going after your phone.

Who doesn’t have virus protection software on their computer? Nowadays, using anti-virus software comes as naturally as buckling your seatbelt or locking the front door. But how many people have that same attitude towards their smartphones?

According to a FishNet Security report, 35 percent of information security professionals believe attacks on mobile devices represent the single biggest threat to organizations in the coming year.

“It’s clear that mobile computing tops the list of this year’s leading security concerns with the clients we surveyed,” said Gary Fish, FishNet Security’s founder and CEO. “Our company is seeing this as a major issue because of the number of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) instances and the vulnerabilities that can threaten mobile computing, such as unsecured Wi-Fi access, lost or stolen devices, and malware attacks on mobile operating systems.”

Furthermore, nearly a third (30 percent) of surveyed security professionals believe that data breaches on mobile devices will account for the majority of all data breaches this year. 

Cybercriminal hackers (25 percent) and accidental exposure of data (19 percent) represented the next two highest concerns. One respondent said, “Mobile technology is still openly unsecured; cybercriminal hackers/crackers are growing; and people are very unaware of minimum good security usage practices, besides being too open-minded on utilization of cyber technology.” (FishNet Security) [link http://www.fishnetsecurity.com/News-Release/Survey-Shows-Mobile-Computing-Is-Top-Security-Concern]

And don’t confuse the concerns of these security professionals with the recent “phone hacking” scandal rocking News Corp. Using the default password to listen to someone’s voicemail is one thing. The new wave of cyber criminals will be after everything from corporate executive emails to electronic medical records.