Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Study Shows Mobile Device Theft a Major Concern

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 08 Jul 2003 14:28:27 -0400

Study Shows Mobile Device Theft a Major Concern

Results from the recent Pointsec Mobile Technologies PDA Usage Survey 2003
indicate 40 percent of those polled have lost their mobile phones in a taxi.
Additionally, 50 percent of those polled have not insured the device and only 2
percent have insured the data contained on the device. Not to say that cell phone
loss and fraud takes place only in a taxi cab, but the loss is a growing concern
for IT-managers that are seeing more and more cases of mobile device theft at
their door.
Pointsec Mobile Technologies states that the results from the survey
show that people are clearly using their PDAs as a business tool, but
are unaware of the serious implications of losing the device

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Tuesday 8th July 2003

Mobile device theft leaves IT managers red-faced
[PC Pro] 9:44

Nearly three in four companies have no security policy for
mobile devices, meaning the blame for security breaches
resulting from theft will lay at the door of the IT manager's
office.

The PDA Usage Survey 2003 has found that one quarter of
those polled had lost a mobile device - most commonly (40
per cent) in a taxi. Yet 50 per cent have not insured the
device and only two per cent have insured the data on it.

Yet for the 73 per cent of companies lacking any security
policy to deal with mobile device usage, staff that jump out of
a taxi leaving their unprotected PDA on the back seat can
claim ignorance by law - the finger of blame will point at IT
managers, for not having taken 'reasonable' security
precautions.

Magnus Ahlberg, MD of Pointsec Mobile Technologies, the
company that commissioned the survey, said
'The survey shows that people are now clearly using their PDAs
as a business tool, but are unaware of the serious
implications should their PDA end up in the wrong hands. It
takes merely seconds to synchronise information from a PDA
using a laptop or PC if it is unencrypted and not password
protected. Alternatively, with the development of Wireless Lan
technology, a competitor or hacker could just sit in the coffee
bar next to your office and get access directly into your
corporate network.

Therefore it is imperative to encrypt all information held on PDAs.'
Indeed, the information staff are leaving on a PDA could easily result
in a security breach if stolen. One third of staff using company PDAs
are leaving sensitive business information, contact details, passwords
and PIN numbers unencrypted and not even protected by a simple
password for access.

Many users download large portions of corporate data to take
with them on their mobile device, and 57 per cent do so
without encrypting it. Forty-one per cent use these devices to
access their company network, with a quarter of these having
their PDA configured to bypass any login passwords.

A third of those polled described themselves as IT director or
IT manager.

 http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/news_story.php?id=44305

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