Smartphone Users: Not Smart Enough About Security

For smartphone users, losing a phone or contact information and personal data is more alarming to them than Web threat infections or phishing schemes, according to a recent Trend Micro survey of over 1,000 smartphone and iPhone owners 18 years and older. In fact, 44 percent of respondents feel that surfing the Internet on their smartphone (which may not be equipped with security software) is just as safe, if not safer, as surfing on their PC.

According to the survey, only 23 percent of smartphone users utilize security software already installed on their smartphone. One out of five respondents don't think installing security software program on their phones would be very effective since, in their opinion, there is limited risk in smartphone surfing.

Despite such assurance, most smartphone users are familiar with the types of Web threats that could infect their smartphones and almost half of respondents have been infected by malware.

Phishing is a the most familiar "threat" term among smartphone users - 80 percent of them know what it is and 20 percent of them have encountered a phishing scam, which is designed to con victims into supplying ID info, account numbers, names and passwords by replying to email messages.

Spam is another smartphone staple. Almost half of the respondents surveyed have received spam emails on their phones in the past 3 months; 17 percent say that the number of spam emails has increased. Half of those surveyed have opened email attachments on their smartphone during the last month and nearly 40 percent have clicked on a URL link in an email received on their phone.

iPhone Users - More Surfing, More Risk

Correlation doesn't always equal cause, but the sleek Web-browsing functionalities that make the iPhone so attractive to gadget lovers also make them more susceptible to Internet-related threats compared to other smartphone users. The most recently reported iPhone SMS vulnerability if unpatched, for example, could allow hackers to extract personal information and take control of the device if a user is on a malicious Web site or an unsecured 3G or WiFi connection.

Trend Micro has launched a range of anti-virus software for the iPhone.

Posted to the site on 18th August 2009