CAIRO - In a global consumer study recently released, Juniper Networks found that four out of five people cite “level of security” as a top or high priority when buying or using smartphones and tablet computers " and more than half are anxious about losing their mobile devices, protecting their identities and protecting their families with parental controls. At the same time, nearly three out of four people surveyed use their mobile devices to share or access sensitive personal or business information. The research, commissioned by Juniper and conducted by KRC Research and Synovate with more than 6,000 smartphone and tablet users across 16 countries, reveals a blurring of the lines between the personal and business use of mobile devices and highlights the need for more stringent and better integrated mobile security. Almost 44 per cent of respondents use their devices for both personal and business purposes, while fewer than four per cent use them strictly for business. If business IT leaders think they can keep the devices at bay, 81 per cent admit using their devices to access their employer's network without their employer's knowledge or permission"and 58 per cent do so every single day. “Smartphones and tablets have become the new onramp for information, applications and commerce " yet they are quickly becoming an onramp for security threats as well,” said Mark Bauhaus, executive vice president and general manager, Service Layer Technologies Business Group at Juniper Networks. “Fortunately users are growing very aware of the security, identity and privacy issues involved. Now the industry needs to step up and make security an integrated part of the mobile experience, not an optional afterthought.” More than 58 per cent of smartphones and tablet users surveyed fear losing their devices and not being able to recover the data and information on their device. A similar number (64 per cent) are extremely or very concerned about the possibility of identity theft resulting from the use of their mobile device. Parental controls matter too, with 53 per cent of all respondents finding them extremely or very important. It may come as no surprise then that 41 per cent of respondents say that level of security is a “top priority” and 40 per cent say it is a “high priority” when considering the purchase or use of a smartphone/tablet. Yet the study reveals that there is a gap between the level of security that users want and the amount of security they will manage themselves��"only 24 per cent of respondents frequently change the security settings on their mobile devices. Thirty-five per cent do so only when a need arises, 31 per cent rarely or never change them and nine per cent are unfamiliar with the security settings on their mobile devices. Moreover, 14 per cent of respondents say neither their smartphone nor their tablet is password protected. The survey also showed that more than 76 per cent of consumers surveyed use their smartphones or tablets to access sensitive personal or business information, including: 51 per cent to enter or modify passwords; 43 per cent to access banking or credit card statements; 30 per cent to access utility bills; 20 per cent to share financial information such as credit card numbers; 18 per cent to access employer's proprietary information; 17 per cent to access medical records and 16 per cent to share social security numbers.
