Today, almost everyone has a mobile phone and there are even those who have two or more. While some of us are still using traditional mobile handsets to make calls and send text messages, there is a growing percentage of the population that is using more advanced functionality, such as e-mail and payment services.
To all intents and purposes, mobile devices are a far cry from the simple handsets that took off so dramatically during the 1990s, moving from becoming a business tool to something that everyone had and quickly grew to depend on. We now manage our lives - both professional and personal - not only using our computers but increasingly using mobile devices.
When it comes to computers and the Internet, we've had more than 20 years to learn about the need to consider security, and in many cases, experience has taught us much about what to look out for. Whether it's a virus or a phishing scam that has caught us out, we've come to realise that our use of technology can make us a target for those who want to make use of our personal machines to either spread their evil malware or attempt to profit from our misfortune.
We saw a similar scenario with mobile phones, albeit not with the volume that we've seen on PCs: mobile devices can carry sensitive information as easily as PCs and while malware for mobile platforms has not been on the same scale as for computers, threats have been seen, and as mobile networks are used for more and more purposes, it's probable that the volume of malware will continue to grow.
Therefore, it should be no real surprise that a recent survey, conducted by Datamonitor for the McAfee Mobile Security Report 2008, demonstrated that more than one-third of us question the general safety of mobile devices and services.
No immunity
So what does this really mean for the individual making use of the functionality the mobile device offers? In the first instance, no one is immune to the threat of malicious code and more than one in 10 (14%) mobile users have already been exposed to mobile virus incidents, whether this is personally or knowing of someone who has been infected.
Security software for mobile devices has a lot in common with the programs we have installed on our PCs at home and at work.
Chris van Niekerk is regional director of McAfee South Africa.
In the old days of simplistic handsets on voice networks, this would be an inconvenience, but today, with mobile messaging and Internet use growing, more information is sent and stored using mobile phones, which - quite simply - means there is more at risk.
It's interesting to note that this incident rate, while seemingly small compared to the PC world, is actually eating into users' confidence, and 80% of mobile users cite virus infection as a legitimate concern.
Furthermore, irritation levels are set to soar as mobile spam continues to grow: more than a third (38.6%) of us receive spam on our mobile devices at least once per month.
These two points alone make it clear that mobile threats are out there and slowly gaining ground, but become even more serious when it is highlighted that 86% of us are concerned about security risks such as fraudulent billing issues or information theft.
The challenge is how we can respond to such issues, especially as we bought into the whole concept of mobile devices based on them being a phone, with no technical expertise required to operate it. Regardless of that, as handset manufacturers have created more advanced hardware in line with the services introduced by the network operators, we've all got a little bit of technological genius in our pockets and need to know how to deal with that.
Common sense
Security software for mobile devices has a lot in common with the programs we have installed on our PCs at home and at work - it has to be advanced enough to deal with the range of threats we face now and in the future, and it has to be kept updated.
But where do we get it? We don't walk into a mobile phone shop and see boxes of software lined up next to handsets and hands-free kits. With these challenges in mind, it's worrying, yet not altogether surprising, to learn that 79% of us are knowingly using unprotected devices. Neither is it shocking to discover that 59% of global mobile phone users feel mobile operators should be responsible for this and 56% of us think that security features should be pre-installed on the handset... after all, we've got used to Internet service providers highlighting the value of their security.
Only time will tell if the same approach is taken by network operators, but in the meantime, it's clear that we need to use our mobile devices with some awareness of how much more than a phone they really are and use some common sense to avoid becoming a victim.
We know that replying to spam on our PCs will only confirm that our e-mail address is valid and in use, so the same approach should apply on mobile devices.
Furthermore, we know that an e-mail offering us money if we reply with our bank details is not really what it claims to be. Above all, we have learned not to launch attachments and download files in e-mails and we have to take the same cautious approach with messages to our mobile devices.
In the world of information security, a little caution really can go a long way. While there is no substitute for sound security technology, being aware of the threats and knowing what to look out for can help us to deal with the risks we face as we continue to get the most out of the miniature computers called our phones.
* Chris van Niekerk is regional director of McAfee South Africa.
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