Security in a new age of technology
Mobile security is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly. The world is becoming increasingly reliant on mobile technology and this has made the mobile space a target for malicious groups that have exploitation in mind. These groups are targeting mobile sectors that have yet to begin taking security seriously, and this means that mobile commerce has become a digital battlefield. Mobile commerce is an attractive target because it is awash with financial information that is, more often than not, left unguarded.
In 2013, Kaspersky Lab reported that security threats were on the rise. During that year, the security firm neutralized some 5 billion cyber attacks targeting computers and mobile devices. Approximately 104,000 new modifications of malicious programs targeting mobile devices specifically were detected during that same year. Nearly 45% of digital attacks were located in the U.S. and Russia and a growing number of these attacks are beginning to be seen in the mobile commerce field.
Companies participating in mobile commerce are attracting the attention of malicious groups. Last year, Target experienced a data breach, with 110 million records compromised, accounting for some 40 million credit and debit card numbers being stolen. Approximately 70 million people were affected by the attack. A similar attack was reported by Belato recently. Belato is Brazil’s most popular mobile payments platform, and it reported that some $4 billion was stolen as the result of the attack.
Businesses have begun to take mobile threats quite seriously, purchasing new software solutions that are designed with mobile security in mind. Consumers, however, have yet to follow suit. The recent attack against Belato was primarily carried out through malicious links sent to consumers via email. When people clicked on these links, their mobile devices became compromised. The majority of these devices did not have security software installed, making their exploitation somewhat simple.
There are a wide variety of security applications that consumers can make use of. Many of these applications are free, though paid versions of these apps often provide better security features. The matter of security is not something that businesses can address alone and consumers are needed to help solve the problem. As technology begins to play a more vital role in society, people are beginning to understand that they need to take security into their own hands.
