Just a matter of time
The security software industry has been anticipating the explosion of the mobile security market for years, but the inconvenient lack of effective malware for mobile operating systems has meant demand has been weak.
According to market intelligence company ABI Research, that's about to change, with the number of smartphones using security software set to increase fivefold over the next five years.
The driver of this trend is enterprise, with mobile workers storing increasing amounts of sensitive data on their phones. Not only do they need to be protected from malware, but also physically protected in case the handset gets lost. There are also things like data protection regulations, which impose compulsory requirements on some sectors like healthcare.
"Although malware has been seen in mobile handsets, in the past it has not done much damage," says ABI Research VP Stan Schatt. "But smartphones have access to more sensitive data every year, and security must be tightened to prevent the theft or loss of important business information."
So we'll increasingly see security software preloaded, as well as hardware security features like fingerprint readers. We'll also see remote management services gaining popularity, which will include the ability to remotely lock or even erase handsets. We suspect some kind of ‘self-destruct' capability might fall foul of health and safety legislation, however.
