A survey, conducted by ESET at this year’s IPEXPO, revealed that 39 percent of the UK’s leading IT professionals keep some risqué pictures stored on their devices. The survey brought to light some other startling statistics and Mark James comments on good mobile security practices.
The survey asked 500 IT professionals various questions about their personal security protocols when using and storing information on a mobile device.
Survey Results
46 percent of the individuals surveyed confessed that the information on their phone could compromise their company if it was lost and subsequently hacked.
Additionally 15 percent said that they weren’t confident that their data is not being streamed to members of their family.
When you consider that the attendees of IPEXPO are almost exclusively serious IT professionals the numbers take on a new significance.
“Very attractive target for cybercriminals”
Mark James, ESET security specialist, comments on the survey findings: “Mobile phones are a very attractive target for cybercriminals as they hold so much information. My advice to mobile phone users is to be very cautious with what content you have stored on your device.
“If you have something on your phone which, if fallen into the wrong hands could compromise you either personally or professionally, delete it, or make sure security on the device is a priority, not an afterthought.”
“A priority, not an afterthought”
Mark outlines his essential security advice, if you do choose to store important information on your phone:
“A remote wipe facility is really your only piece of insurance against a lost phone, and I am surprised more people have not adopted the facility.”
22 percent of the IT professionals surveyed admitted to not using a remote wipe facility. We can assume that that number would be much higher amongst mobile users in general.
“It essentially means that if you lose your mobile phone you could log into a PC and remotely delete all the data stored on the device. This means that anyone who finds the phone will not be able to access any of your personal information.
“If you choose to store data on your phone which has the potential to compromise you if it ended up in the wrong hands I would strongly advise you deploy a security solution which offers a remote wipe facility.”
ESET Advice
Here are a few essential security tips which were included in the original press release:
- Use a password on your phone at all times.
- Restrict how long you keep emails for on your phone – don’t store things unnecessarily for more than a couple of days.
- Restrict the amount of information you keep on your phone.
- Delete any photos you don’t need and download them frequently to your own computer, where you can store them safely.
- Be mindful of where you are streaming your photos.
- Make sure you do back-ups frequently and check that they are actually being backed up and working.
- Try wherever possible to have remote lock and remote wipe available for your mobile phone. Lock the device if it’s lost, then wipe it if needed. Always bear in mind it’s unlikely you will get your phone back after it’s lost.