IT experts overlook mobile security

A third of professionals using mobile devices
such as PDAs and Smartphones don't use passwords or any other security
protection and yet three out of 10 of these sloppy handheld happy users store
their PIN numbers, passwords and other corporate information on them.

This was revealed in the Mobile Usage Survey 2005, conducted
for the fourth year by Pointsec Mobile Technologies and SC Magazine. The survey
was conducted amongst IT professionals who are considered more security savvy
than the average employee.

According to the survey, corporate personnel now store huge
amounts of corporate data on their mobile devices, including customer contacts,
email details, passwords and bank account details as well as personal and
private information such as friend's details, personal images and even PIN
numbers, without giving much consideration to security.

As a result, a lost PDA or Smartphone with no protection
makes easy pickings for common thieves, opportunists, hackers or competitors and
could enable them to steal your identity and get at your corporate information.
This could have a huge impact on customer confidence, breach the data protection
act or do untold damage to a company's reputation. On a personal level, it
could expose the person to fraud, embarrass friends or wreck the personal life,
the survey revealed.

78 percent of users do not encrypt the information on their
PDA or Smartphone even though sensitive personal and valuable corporate
information is being stored on these devices with 81 percent using them to store
business names and addresses, 45 percent to receive and view emails and 27
percent store corporate information. 59 percent also use their devices as a
business diary and 14 percent use them to store information on their customers.

According to the survey, last year just 16 percent had lost
one, this year it has increased to 22 percent and of those that did lose their
device 81 percent had not encrypted their information and admitted that the
information could fall into the wrong hands.

Only 40 percent inform the police as the rest don't believe
there is anything the police can do or it costs more to report it than to
replace it. Martin Allen, MD, Pointsec said "We believe this survey shows
just the tip of the iceberg as it has been conducted amongst IT professionals
who are far more security savvy than most other handheld device users. Our
advice is secure it, or don't use it!"

The Mobile Usage Survey 2005 was conducted among 73 IT
managers, with 34 percent coming from companies employing over 1,000 employees.

DQW News Bureau

New Delhi, Nov 22