In 2014, 16 million mobile devices have been contaminated by scams, and hackers are increasingly targeting mobile applications. It has been said that mobile apps are considered “low-hanging fruit” since it is rather fast and easy to exploit the vulnerability of apps as apps exist in an unregulated ecosystem.
In Singapore alone, mobile security threats have affected 70% of companies. The majority of organizations saying “yes” to employees using their mobile phones for business without giving proper education on BYOD policies also contributed to this number. This trend will cease any time soon as the hackers are expected to continue focusing on mobile devices.
Given the changes of this behavior and the advancement of technology on smartphones, organizations and governments will need to be able to serve this increasing number of mobile customers and employees while delivering applications and services seamlessly and securely.
Businesses have always demanded agility and availability without worrying about the security of critical data. That mindset must shift — application security needs to be a top priority for businesses.
With the rise of smartphones and mobile devices usage for business, the risk of enterprises’ critical data is increasing as well. Business flexibility provided by smartphones comes with a greater responsibility that requires enterprises to step up to secure and manage the applications to keep preforming.
This generation will see the end of “dumb” phones, and the next might even see them in museums. With such rapid changes in the technology scene, it will be no surprise if the next big thing comes faster than the shift of feature phones to smartphones.
Asia Pacific holds the biggest stake for smartphones companies, and any respectable industry player must look to the East whenever there is a shift in the mobile telecom enterprise industry.