News

Smartphone Armageddon a real threat, article reports

September 18, 2012

With personal finance transactions moving from the PC to the smartphone, there is a growing concern with security and the temptation for skilled hackers to retrieve sensitive information from mobile devices. 

It's dubbed "smartphone Armageddon" in an article on CNNmoney.com, and according to the article, it is only a matter of time until mobile devices will experience the full force of a cyber-thief’s attack.

Cyber-attacks on mobile phones rose by a factor of six this year, according to McAfee, and four in 10 mobile users will click an unsafe link on a smartphone this year, according to Lockout Security, the article reported. 

The good news, according to the article, is that certain characteristics of mobile devices serve as protective barriers from potential cyber-thieving. Since smartphone operating systems were built from scratch, they were designed with a certain amount of security built in, making it difficult — but not impossible — to attack a device and take control of it entirely. Fragmentation is also a helpful factor; with so many different operating systems, it is difficult to create code able to affect all devices. 

Yet experts say that eventually, the phone will be targeted just as much as the PC.

"The money is in mobile, and that's where they're moving," said Stu Sjouwerman, CEO of KnowBe4, a security training company, in the article. "Malware on mobile phones is going to be as prevalent as on the PC. It's inevitable, unfortunately."

Read more about mobile payments in retail.