How Safe Is That Mobile Phone In Your Hand?

How Safe Is That Mobile Phone In Your Hand?
By: Eric Everson, Founder MyMobiSafe.com – ericeverson@hotmail.com

Mobile security is a growing concern around the world. With the flood of content available to the mobile community, a growing number of mobile threats are beginning to emerge that were never before an issue.

Before the emergence of mobile banking, there was relatively little concern for users. Today however millions of dollars have been invested in advancing the mobile banking industry. Even though a small percentage of mobile users have adopted mobile banking, the threat to all cell phone users has emerged full force. The lack of a universal operating platform has limited the current viral threat, but other mobile security risks are becoming a major global concern. The three primary threats that every mobile user must begin considering are Mobile Intruders, Mobile Keyloggers, and Jacking Scripts.

Mobile Intruders: These are prying eyes that essentially act as the hackers of the mobile community. A few years back we all learned the valuable lesson about mobile intruders through Paris Hilton’s unfortunate experience. Mobile intruders are generally looking for personal information such as contact lists among other personal data. Currently the average mobile phone has no built-in safeguards to keep mobile intruders out.

Mobile Keyloggers: A simple Google Search of “Mobile Keylogger” will yield upwards of 1.3 million search results. With that being said, it is easy to understand why mobile keyloggers are becoming the biggest mobile security threat of all. A mobile keylogger essentially records every keystroke that is entered into a mobile device. This functionality can range from normal dialing to text messaging. The reason this is becoming so popular is a result of the emergence of financial information being exchanged through mobile devices. One might think they don’t publish any financial data through their phone, but a quick reference back to the last call to the credit card company brings this issue home for many mobile users. Most callers type in their credit card number while waiting to speak with a credit card company representative. As the first four digits signal the card type of every credit card (Visa, Discover, Master Card, etc) it is easy to see how quickly your personal information can be captured by a keylogger. Though no formal studies exist on the topic, it is suggested that there are millions of active keyloggers in use on unsuspecting mobile devices throughout the world.

Jacking Scripts: These are primarily mobile applications designed to scavenge through mobile phones seeking key data metrics. As the value of competitive information is growing and there is a lack of global regulation regarding this area many jacking scripts are being employed throughout the world. Businesses are the most likely targets of jacking scripts as competitors seek to gain proprietary information through gathering mobile data.

Armed with this new knowledge of mobile security vulnerabilities, you may be wondering what you can do to protect your phone. As the Founder of MyMobiSafe.com, I encourage you to visit our site and research our mobile security solution. We’ve developed MyMobiSafe® as a first line of defense for every mobile user. For $3.99 per month you’re not likely to find a better mobile security solution that you can rely on. We wanted to make mobile security affordable to every mobile user throughout the world. As a mobile security advocate, I want to encourage you to start taking your mobile security seriously. Whether you choose MyMobiSafe® or not, your mobile security should become a real priority. Do what you can to learn about this emerging trend in the mobile community and follow this blog for important mobile security updates.