Article by George Norman

On 10 Aug 2011

A survey conducted by TNS Omnibus revealed that 67% percent of respondents don’t have passwords in place to protect their phones and the data stored on the devices. The survey also borough to light that 22% of respondents lost a mobile phone in the past, that 12% have had their phone stolen, and that 60% acknowledged that device theft or loss was the biggest security threat to mobile devices. Out of those who do have password protection on their phone, 18% said they use the same password over and over for all their accounts.

In light of these findings Sophos, company founded back in 1985 that specializes in providing antivirus, anti-spam, spyware removal software, network and internet security, decided to launch a free mobile security toolkit that contains top tips for creating secure passwords, a user-targeted video and presentation, whitepapers and a sample security policy. Businesses can use this toolkit to educate their employees – which is a good idea since phones are increasingly used for work and personal reasons.

The abovementioned toolkit is available for download here.


Here is what Director of Technology Strategy with Sophos, James Lyne, had to say about it:
“More and more people are using personal laptops, smartphones and tablets when they’re working remotely. While this helps to improve productivity and innovation in a business, it is essential to address the security and operational issues relating to mobile devices now, rather than getting caught out later. If an employee’s unprotected personal laptop falls into the wrong hands, it can be easy for someone to access, not just personal information, but any work related documents saved on the laptop’s hard drive, or even to use the laptop as a way to gain access to the corporate network.”

Lyne went on to say that “most data breaches on mobile devices are typically due to basic security failures such as weak or no passwords being in place, failure to encrypt data or falling victim to phishing or other social engineering attacks. If devices are used for business, it’s important that IT teams get the basics under control. By making sure that they can purge devices when they go missing, businesses can both minimise the risk of data loss and can also satisfy regulators.”

The abovementioned TNS Omnibus survey was conducted in March 2011 on 1075 consumers from Great Britain; out of them all 702 work part or full time.



Tags: Sophos, Security, Survey, TNS Omnibus, Phones

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