Spurred by the advent of internet-enabled devices and diligent
marketing by financial and other service providers, mobile devices
are set to become increasingly pervasive in the world of electronic
payments. But with any transaction platform comes the threat of
fraud and even in the mobile world it is a cause of concern among
consumers, reveals a study commissioned by internet security
company McAfee.

The study, which canvassed consumers in the US, the UK and
Japan, revealed that 72 percent of respondents are concerned about
the security of current and future mobile services such as
payments, multimedia downloads and ticketing.

McAfee noted that concern rates rise with market maturity and
that frequent mobile web users showed levels of concern 80 percent
higher than those who have never used mobile web services.

McAfee also stressed that while mobile security incidents do not
rival the scale and scope of computer threats, they are increasing
in volume and sophistication. Of concern is that most mobile web
users take few precautions, indicated by the survey’s finding that
at least 79 percent of consumers are knowingly using unprotected
devices, while an additional 15 percent are not certain of security
levels.

Most consumers are also reluctant to improve their mobile
security, with 59 percent expecting mobile operators to take
primary responsibility for protecting mobile devices and services
and 56 percent believing security features should be pre-installed
on the handset and provided free of charge.