IT Security

Mobile device preference

by Mark Rowe

IT users increasingly seldom use computers for their online activities, but prefer instead to use mobile devices, according to the IT security product company Kaspersky Lab’s latest Cybersecurity Index – an aggregate of indicators.

Taking email as an example, 78 per cent of users access their email account from computers, compared to 87 per cent in the previous six months. 67 per cent do so from their mobile devices which has risen from 59 per cent in the second half of 2016. The proportion of users using their mobile devices for online shopping has grown to 50 per cent from 41 per cent in the previous six months, while that of users shopping online from their computers has decreased from 80 per cent to 75 per cent. This trend is observed across most types of online activities monitored in the Index.

For the first time in several years, the average number of devices per household has shown a slight decrease – largely due to the reduction in number of computers per household. Today, an average household has 6.2 devices connected to the Internet, compared to 6.3 in the second half of 2016.

At the same time, the proportion of protected users has also shown a decrease. While in late 2016, only 39 per cent of respondents had not protected all their devices, now there are 41 per cent of users who admit they have no protection at all. This could be related to that fact that users increasingly use mobile devices which they, more often than not, leave unprotected when compared to their computers. This is a dangerous trend: users face risks while using mobile devices too, and the more they use them for online activities, the higher the risk.

Since the start of 2017, Kaspersky Lab’s databases have listed over 20 million malicious objects targeting Android devices. Android users face ransomware that encrypt the user’s data on their phone in return for a ransom; malware aimed at stealing money from mobile banking apps; and phishing web-pages designed to gain illicit access to a user’s accounts, for example, in social networks.

As a result, over the analysed time period, every fourth (27 per cent) respondent reported they had become a victim of cybercrime, on some type of device. Although the average proportion of such affected users has declined over the first 6 months of the year, this decline has only occurred among those respondents who had security solutions installed on their devices.

Elderly users (aged 55 or older) found themselves at higher risk in the first half of 2017. While in the second half of 2016 only 12 per cent of such users reported that they had faced an online threat, in H1 there were 19 per cent, most of whom reported that they had encountered some type of malware.

Andrei Mochola, Head of Consumer Business at Kaspersky Lab said: “Irrespective of people’s age and occupation, the focus of their digital lives is increasingly shifting onto mobile devices – people trust them with their secrets, files, confidential information, money and many other things. However, cybercriminals are also shifting their tactics and are increasingly attacking mobile platforms. It is therefore imperative that modern smartphones and tablets be as protected as our computers. In addition to safeguarding our own devices, people need to look out for each other and help friends and family members to practice safe Internet usage to reduce the risks they face.”

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