Mobile devices a growing target for criminals

Many IT departments face significant problems with smartphones and other mobile devices, as well as mobile apps that expose sensitive data

The best way to protect business information on smartphones from cybercriminals is to leave that information off smartphones, one mobile security expert said Thursday.

Mobile security is still evolving, and smartphones are vulnerable to hackers and to social engineering schemes, said Andrew Hoog, chief investigative officer at viaForensics, a security vendor. Cybercriminals are starting to target smartphones, Hoog said at a cybersecurity summit in Washington, D.C., hosted by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA)

Mobile devices combine personal information and corporate information.
ViaForensics recently completed a review of 100 popular mobile applications. Eighty-three percent of those apps either warranted a security warning from the company or failed the company's basic security tests, meaning they stored sensitive data insecurely, he said. The company gave warnings to apps that store app data in an unencrypted form. Ten percent of the apps tested stored passwords in plain text, and 25 percent of the financial apps failed the company's tests.