Growing usage of mobile phones: security threats, vulnerabilities highlighted

Addressing the 4th International Mobile Commerce Conference in Karachi, Faiz Ahmad Shuja, the CEO of Rewterz, highlighted security threats and vulnerabilities associated with the growing usage of mobile phones and ever-increasing number of mobile banking users.
"Smart phones are being integrated with greater functionalities and consequently greater entry points for attackers with lack of technical sophistication and has provided the hackers to attack them in a variety of ways", Rewterz's CEO said.
Shuja indicated that 80 percent of mobile phone owners store their sensitive information on their cell phones with 24 percent of them storing banking credentials on their devices. He emphasised that as soon as mobile banking and payments go en-mass, hackers will be poised to become the number one mobile banking parasites.
About the increasing revolution in Smartphone for personal information management, he added that with the evolution of Smartphone, and operating systems like iOS and Android, which have rapidly bridged the gap between a full-on computer and a portable communication device, programmers have begun targeting these devices, now to an almost alarming extent. With the rapid penetration of cellular phone technology into banking channels, he added, enterprises must treat mobile security as an independent concern and mobile centric security policies must be implemented.
The event was actively attended by leading mobile operators, banks, financial institutions and technology service providers. Industry leaders including Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority Dr Muhammad Yasin, Deputy Governor State Bank of Pakistan Yaseen Anwar, Director of Mobile Payments Visa, Brad Jones, President of United Bank Limited, Atif R. Bokhari, and many others shared their views on the need and future of mobile commerce in Pakistan and the evolving landscape of Mobile and Branchless banking.-PR