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Like viruses and spyware that can infect your PC, there are a variety of security threats that can affect mobile devices. We divide these mobile threats into several categories: application-based threats, web-based threats, network-based threats and physical threats.
Downloadable applications can present many types of security issues for mobile devices. “Malicious apps” may look fine on a download site, but they are specifically designed to commit fraud. Even some legitimate software can be exploited for fraudulent purposes. Application-based threats generally fit into one or more of the following categories:
Because mobile devices are constantly connected to the Internet and frequently used to access web-based services, web-based threats pose persistent issues for mobile devices:
Mobile devices typically support cellular networks as well as local wireless networks (WiFi, Bluetooth). Both of these types of networks can host different classes of threats:
Mobile devices are small, valuable and we carry them everywhere with us, so their physical security is also an important consideration.
Lost or Stolen Devices are one of the most prevalent mobile threats. The mobile device is valuable not only because the hardware itself can be re-sold on the black market, but more importantly because of the sensitive personal and organization information it may contain.