I have opined on the growing threat to the security of mobile computing before. It is a huge concern for all the tech dudes, and the “cyber conference attending set” as well. The security companies are all pushing new protective software for mobile devices. My employer has mandatory security programs on my enterprise smart phone. Most now do.
I asked some of my graduate students (cyber policy course) what the biggest issue of concern was between mobile computing security, cloud computing security, and smart grid security. I expected a spread of answers, as they are all enormously important and relevant subjects. The vast majority of the students chose mobile computing. They clearly recognized the potential for mischief in the other two areas, but they pointed out that mobile computing was more “today’s” problem.
OK Experts, if we all agree that this is such a big thing, why do I sit in an airport and see easily 50 percent or better of the waiting passengers happily using a multitude of mobile devices? How many of them do you think have security measures loaded on them, or even have passwords? I am happy that the tech world is clearly doing good business at during the holidays and nascent economic recovery, but as a very “interested cyber observer,” I am concerned.
If I walked around the waiting area (yes, my plane is delayed), and asked everyone using a smart phone, a tablet, an e-reader, or a computer, who had malware protection, I am guessing I’d hit maybe a 10 percent positive response. What concerns me more is that most would think it was paranoid to even think there was a need.
Mobile computing will continue to grow. That is a good thing, but we need to get people cognizant of their requirements for security, so they stop “walking about naked” from a technological stand point.
