Smartphones, Tablets, and Fraud: When Apathy Meets Security
By Javelin, Nok Nok
Consumers rely on their mobile devices on an ever‐growing basis to keep them connected. Smartphones and tablets provide them with access to each other through email, messaging, and social media while also putting financial services and shopping in the palm of their hands. And each and every one of these activities holds value for criminals in search of account credentials and personally identifiable information (PII) to sell or misuse. Unfortunately, for all of the potential that mobile devices represent, the apathy of every mobile stakeholder is undermining the security of mobile devices and the accounts of their users. Protecting Android, iOS, and Windows mobile device users from fraud will require a concerted effort by all stakeholders to eliminate vulnerabilities, encourage security‐minded behaviors, and to leverage all the security benefits that mobile devices have to offer.