Global sales of mobile security products will produce more than $1 billion USD revenue by 2013 and approach $4 billion, according to [sign-in] a June 2011 white paper from Juniper Research. Data from “Saving and Protecting a Mobile Future” predicts a number of high-profile security alerts for mobile phone users will publicize the risks of using a mobile phone for data-centric applications and services and result in the revenue growth forecasted.
Western Europe, North America Biggest Markets by ’16
Looking at Juniper projections of growth in mobile security product revenue between 2011 and 2016, the data suggests Western Europe and North America will be the two largest markets, followed by the Far East and China. Africa/Middle East, rest of Asia-Pacific, Indian subcontinent, Central/Eastern Europe, and Latin America. These markets essentially have the same market shares today, although the total dollar amounts are much smaller.
App Proliferation, M-commerce among Factors Increasing Mobile Security Need
The proliferation of downloadable free and paid apps that can be easily installed on mobile devices along with their high volume of data usage, opens up the device towards possible threats and risks. Also, Juniper analysis indicates the increasing adoption of mobile commerce by users means that distinct security measures are required for the different types of threats and risks they face.
Furthermore, Juniper identifies growing smartphone penetration and high volume of data usage as key driving factors in the growth of mobile security products.
Confidential Info among 5 Key Security Issues
Juniper identifies the following five key security issues affecting mobile device users:
- Confidential Information – Many users store confidential personal and business information on their mobile devices. Personal smartphones owned by users can be configured to access corporate email and data and can be synchronized easily. Also, the introduction of mobile banking, payments and ticketing solutions require secure transmission and storage of sensitive financial data, and social data is often compromised by content sharing third party applications and online gaming.
- Device Protection – Mobile devices require the same level of protection as is available to other end point devices such as laptops and netbooks which includes malware protection, firewall, antivirus protection and others.
- Mobile Apps & Software Downloads – Mobile applications are of major concern as they can introduce a number of threats into the enterprise network. Most of the users download both free and paid apps from the application stores. Uncertified third party applications that are downloaded by users are sometimes malwares or spyware that can retrieve emails, messages, call history, client lists and other corporate data. There are different types of unsecure mobile applications available in the application store to be downloaded which has been marketed as useful business or personal applications.
- Device Loss or Theft – As a smartphone accumulates more features, it becomes more desirable to thieves both in terms of the value of the device and as a means of accessing identity.
- Always-On access and User owned Devices – The majority of enterprise users use smartphones for accessing corporate emails and data and since some of these devices are being bought by the user themselves and not the organization, the security of these mobile devices is very important. Also, most mobile devices are always connected to the Internet either via a cellular network or through WiFi networks. This means not only the device is exposed to the internet, but that other devices can also connect to it.
Nielsen: Apple iOS Users Average 48 Apps
Among Apple iOS users who download mobile apps, the average number of apps on their phone is 48, according to May 2011 data from The Nielsen Company. This gives Apple iOS users the highest average number of mobile apps by a wide margin; Android users follow with 35, a number which is 27% lower.
Users of no other mobile phone OS have an average number of apps anywhere close to either of these totals. Palm follows a distant third with an average of 21 mobile apps per user, well less than half the average number of apps held by the average iOS user.
