Mobile Users Let Down Guard During Holidays

Whether shopping, traveling or just updating their Facebook pages, mobile users will be using their smartphones and tablet PCs throughout the holiday season in record numbers.

But as Enterprise Mobile Today reports, while many people will be out of the office this holiday season, most will be checking in via their smartphones and taking risks that could expose both their personal and corporate data.

Security software vendor Symantec (NASDAQ: SYMC) released the results of a new survey of mobile users’ behavior and attention to security during the holiday season.

The good news is that most people finally are locking their devices when they’re not in use and have set up passwords to access their iPhones, Droids, etc. if they happen to get stolen or misplaced.

Unfortunately, however, Symantec’s survey found that only 18 percent of respondents said that they pay any attention to the license agreements included with the dozens of mobile applications they download.

It’s the holiday season and that means most people are taking time off to enjoy the festivities with family and friends. Rare, however, is the employee these days who can take a week or two off at a time without having to check in at least occasionally at the office.

And these days, this checking in is often done via a smartphone or other mobile device. Whether it’s to check email, send a text message or review the early fourth-quarter sales and earnings projections, employees at all levels of their organizations are relying more and more on mobile devices as their umbilical cord to work.

Read the full story at Enterprise Mobile Today:


Mobile Security Survey Says Smartphone Users Get Sloppy During Holidays