Disqus
Following from my last post about the Mobile Security Challenge launched in the UK, check out these interesting (and in some cases alarming) stats about Mobiles:
1. 4 billion mobile phones are in operation worldwide (source: http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE51A2I820090211)
2. There are twice as many mobile phones as credit cards in the world (source: http://www.gizmag.com/orange-near-field-mobile-phone-payment/11216/ )
3. There are 70 million mobile handsets in the UK, of which 4.2 million are vulnerable to ID theft. (source: http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/newslog/UK+Market+Tops+70+Million+Vodafone+Leads+Subscriber+Growth.aspx )
4. 80% of mobile phones contain enough data to commit identity fraud (source: http://www.securitywatch.co.uk/2009/03/18/phone-data-makes-42-million-brits-vulnerable-to-id-theft/ )
5. 40% of users have no password or PIN securing their phone. (source: http://www.securitywatch.co.uk/2009/03/18/phone-data-makes-42-million-brits-vulnerable-to-id-theft/ )
6. In the UK 16% of people carry their bank details and 24% carry their passwords and pin numbers on their phones (source: http://www.securitywatch.co.uk/2009/03/20/brits-naive-about-mobile-phone-security/ )
7. In 2006, two per cent of mobile users, 800,000 people, were victims of phone theft, (source: http://www.crimereduction.homeoffice.gov.uk/statistics/statistics065.htm )
8. TFL and O2 have already teamed up to combine Oyster cards and mobiles with swipable phones – and 85% liked the system. (source: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/archive/6592.aspx )
9. German supermarkets have introduced a barcode scanning system enabling shoppers to store their shopping list in their phone and speed up time at the checkout. (source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7476672.stm)
10. Japanese phone giant NTT DoCoMo is set to launch a new mobile phone feature making house keys, and cash, redundant. (source: http://www.techjapan.com/Article674.html)
Wowzer! When you look at the combination of volume of targetable devices, and the info on-board them, no wonder they are such a hot (and unsecured) commodity! PIN-code your moby now methinks!
About The Author
Ben Robinson
Ben is a 10+ year veteran of the Mobile industry – starting his career when SMS was a still a relatively new concept for most people (!), he has now consulted on everything from bleeding-edge Mobile content, to the next-gen accessories you might view it on. As a result he has a broad and deep knowledge in numerous areas of Mobile – from network operators to device vendors, to infrastructure and middleware vendors (not to mention content delivery) – and has worked for companies in all of these areas! He is based in the UK, a hotbed of activity for mobile, and recently became a father for the second time – as oppose to in his younger years when he was happy spend time tweaking all manner of mobile devices to 'nth' degree, he now looks for services and hardware that provide the most efficient, compact, and reliable improvements to his already manic life! It’s his opinion that Mobile solutions should be there to help to make your life better – if a particular solution (be it service or device) isn’t doing this, he believes you need to ask the very important question of why you continue to use it... His focus at IntoMobile is mainly on Mobile content, services, and infrastructure, particularly as regards the UK market – and with the occasional look at devices. Additionally, using his extensive experience in the industry, he will provide commentary on the industry at large, with regular (and hopefully thought-provoking) articles.
