Some 54% of organisations surveyed in the 2009 Mobile Security Survey, conducted by Goode Intelligence (GI) and Acumin Consulting, plan to deploy mobile anti-virus products and services.
The survey found 33% of these organisations plan to implement mobile anti-virus solutions by March this year, and the remaining 67% aim to roll out mobile protection by September.
“The threat from mobile viruses is currently low, but with the rising adoption of data-centric applications on smartphones, including financial services, we feel that the threat will rise from 2010 onwards,” warns Alan Goode, MD of Goode Intelligence.
Goode says research for a new GI analyst report on mobile viruses and malware reveals mobile operators are struggling to deal with the growing incidence of mobile spam and malware.
“In the last couple of years, the percentage of mobile messaging traffic (SMS/MMS/e-mail) that is defined as spam or malware has risen from approximately 2% to between 20% and 30% of total traffic,” he points out. “More significantly, between 14% and 22% of this figure is considered to be malicious.”
Aware and prepared
The survey indicates there are important challenges ahead for mobile security. “With 40% of organisations planning on recruiting for mobile security roles in the next two years, it is reassuring to see that m-security is being taken seriously and becoming more of a priority for the IT and security functions,” says Gemma Paterson, Acumin Consulting marketing manager.
She adds it's essential to make organisations aware of this developing challenge, as only 13% of companies currently provide protection from mobile viruses.
“IT security managers will need to consider updating skill-sets and resourcing adequately for teams to ensure they are prepared for the risks arising from this transformation in the way we carry out business,” she stresses.
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