Study: Security Concerns Keep Users From Taking Full Advantage Of Mobile Devices

Consumers may be pulling out their smartphones and PDAs in record numbers these days, but security worries often prevent users from getting all they can out of those devices, according to a study released yesterday.

According to a survey of more than 1,800 consumers by Harris Interactive and Cloudmark, nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of mobile users are worried about the security of their devices.

Nearly half (46 percent) of these concerned device owners said worries about security prevented them from conducting activities on their mobile device. Respondents were particularly hesitant to engage in financial transactions, such as paying bills (73 percent), conducting banking activities (71 percent), and shopping (56 percent) using their mobile devices.

Seventy-nine percent of mobile device owners said they have never sent or received confidential information of any kind through their device.

Mobile device owners also indicated that mobile spam has established a highly visible presence on their networks. Forty-four percent of device owners said they have received spam on their mobile devices, including messages asking them to call another number (45 percent); messages containing a link to another Website (42 percent); messages encouraging them to disclose personal information (29 percent); and messages from a person or entity posing as a trusted contact/source (24 percent).

"The prevalence of spam will only continue to rise as financial gain for spammers continues to increase," says Jamie de Guerre, CTO of Cloudmark. Have a comment on this story? Please click "Discuss" below. If you'd like to contact Dark Reading's editors directly, send us a message.