Mobile Security
Encyclopedia
With the rise in popularity of smartphone
s has come an increasing need to secure them. Since their introduction mobile phone
s have becoming increasingly smaller, more powerful with increasing storage capacity and have remained expensive items. With the rise of their popularity so has the need to secure the devices from theft
, as well as traditional threats that effect computers such as malware
and the need to back and protect the data on the devices.
A recent report from McAfee
titled" 2011 Threats Predictions" , outlines the company’s concerns about the changing “threats landscape” thanks in part to increases in malware sophistication and targeting and how they relate to seven areas — including social media
, mobile Apple-related products and applications.
are a key concern, the actual number of viruses targeting mobile phones in the wild has not been widespread.
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
s has come an increasing need to secure them. Since their introduction mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
s have becoming increasingly smaller, more powerful with increasing storage capacity and have remained expensive items. With the rise of their popularity so has the need to secure the devices from theft
Theft
In common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
, as well as traditional threats that effect computers such as malware
Malware
Malware, short for malicious software, consists of programming that is designed to disrupt or deny operation, gather information that leads to loss of privacy or exploitation, or gain unauthorized access to system resources, or that otherwise exhibits abusive behavior...
and the need to back and protect the data on the devices.
A recent report from McAfee
McAfee
McAfee, Inc. is a computer security company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, USA. It markets software and services to home users, businesses and the public sector. On August 19, 2010, electronics company Intel agreed to purchase McAfee for $7.68 billion...
titled" 2011 Threats Predictions" , outlines the company’s concerns about the changing “threats landscape” thanks in part to increases in malware sophistication and targeting and how they relate to seven areas — including social media
Social media
The term Social Media refers to the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0,...
, mobile Apple-related products and applications.
Mobile Viruses
Although virusesComputer virus
A computer virus is a computer program that can replicate itself and spread from one computer to another. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, including but not limited to adware and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability...
are a key concern, the actual number of viruses targeting mobile phones in the wild has not been widespread.