Helsinki, Finland March 4th, 2008 – F-Secure Corporation, the global leader in providing security as a service through mobile operators and Internet Service Providers, today announced mobile security results from its Online Wellbeing survey. Over three quarters of mobile phone users are aware that malware can infect a mobile device via Bluetooth – but fail to have security software installed, according to this survey.
Independent research* commissioned by F-Secure questioned web
users aged 20 to 40 across the US, Canada, UK, France and Germany
about their knowledge of online and mobile security issues.
On average, 28 per cent of all respondents said they use their
mobile device to access the Internet. A large majority, 86 per cent
admitted to having no mobile security. Out of all the countries
questioned, the UK had the highest percentage (47%) of users
accessing the Internet through their mobile device, while at the
same time being the least likely to have a security product
installed on their mobile phone. Most users are aware of the
security risks involved with using the connectivity features on
their phone: only 21 percent regarded Bluetooth connections safe,
and a mere 15 per cent were under the impression WiFi connections
are safe.
Over half of those questioned felt it was up to the individual
user to ensure their phone was protected. A third expected this to
be taken care of by their mobile phone carrier, with the US putting
the greater emphasis on third-party responsibility. Only 11 per
cent of Germans believed their mobile phone provider should be in
charge of security, compared with over 32 per cent in France.
“While the mobile threat is low at present, it’s only a matter
of time before Internet criminals start utilizing the growing
potential that smartphone usage presents to them,” warned Mikko
Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure. “So far there have
been about 400 mobile viruses detected, but as smartphones replace
PC's as the dominant Internet platform, we can expect this figure
to rise.”
Geographically the sources of mobile threats are spread around
the globe with activity originating for instance in South-East
Asia, Russia and South America. While the threat from mobile
viruses remains low, there has been increasing activity with
spyware applications for mobile phones. Such applications make it
possible to get covert access to all the functions of the affected
phone, including recording of phone calls, access to messages and
switching on the phone's microphone for listening.
The low amount of security software installed on smartphones
coupled with the rapidly increasing volume of these devices make
them a very vulnerable target for hackers.
*The survey was carried out by a third party in January 2008
across 1,169 Internet users aged 20-40 across the US (225
respondents), Canada (228 respondents), the UK (227 respondents),
France (256 respondents) and Germany (224 respondents). F-Secure
asked respondents a series of basic online security questions and,
using a Likert scale, asked them to rate the extent to which they
were confident in the security of given online activities.
About F-Secure Corporation
F-Secure Corporation protects consumers and businesses against
computer viruses and other threats from the Internet and mobile
networks. F-Secure’s award-winning solutions are available as a
service subscription through more than 160 Internet service
providers and mobile operator partners around the world, making
F-Secure the global leader in this market. The solutions are also
available as licensed products through thousands of resellers
globally. The company aspires to be the most reliable security
provider, helping make computer and smartphone users’ connected
lives safe and easy. This is substantiated by the company’s
independently proven ability to respond faster to new threats than
its main competitors. Founded in 1988 and headquartered in Finland,
F-Secure has been listed on the OMX Nordic Exchange Helsinki since
1999. The company has consistently been one of the fastest
growing publicly listed companies in the industry. The latest news
on real-time virus threat scenarios is available at the F-Secure
Data Security Lab weblog at
http://www.f-secure.com/weblog/.
For more information, please contact:
F-Secure Corporation
Henrietta Malmari, Corporate Communicator
Tel. +358 40 575 5646
Email:
firstname.lastname@f-secure.com
Or
Alicia Gonzales or Sarah Crawford at LEWIS, the PR agency, at:
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7802 2626
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7802 2627
Email:
aliciag@lewispr.com
/
sarahc@lewispr.com
http://www.lewispr.com
