A recent survey by One Poll on behalf of internet security firm, BullGuard, showed that 53% of users claimed that they are unaware of security software for smartphones, which the firm stated showed a lack of insight into the rising number of malicious threats affecting mobile phones.
A further 21% of those surveyed argued that such protection was unnecessary, and 42% admitted it ‘hadn’t crossed their mind’.
The survey also indicated that 49% of users have never been concerned about accessing the internet from a mobile phone, and 32% hadn’t thought about the potential risk. This sits awkwardly amongst statistics indicating that 55% of users are unaware that a mobile could get infected by a virus, yet 50% admitted to going online regularly.
Further figures from the survey suggest that lack of awareness is a key issue, with 88% admitting they ‘don’t completely trust the internet’, while still using their mobile phone to access the web. Meanwhile, 11% of respondents believed it was safer to access the internet from a mobile phone, 31% claimed it was just as safe as a computer, and 26% weren’t sure.
However, Claus Villumsen, mobile security expert at BullGuard, commented: “It’s not really surprising that consumers haven’t responded to this emerging threat. People want to buy products that just work, and not concern themselves with jumping through more hoops once a device is up and running. The key thing to remember here is that smartphones are effectively miniature computers, and so are just as vulnerable.