Getting hacked is a bigger fear now than ever before.
New research has shown that the US and the UK had the most mobile threats last year. Mobile threats are defined, by the researchers, as ‘the amount of times someone’s phone and online data have been hacked into or stolen.’
The US and the UK, worryingly, made the top two positions in this list. The US had five million mobile threats last year, and the UK had two million.
The top 10 countries where your data is at risk are probably places you travel to a lot for business –
-
US – 5 million mobile threats
-
UK – 2 million mobile threats
-
Spain – 1.7 million mobile threats
-
France – 700k mobile threats
-
Poland – 475k mobile threats
-
Canada – 400k mobile threats
-
Italy – 400k mobile threats
-
Portugal – 375k mobile threats
-
The Netherlands – 320k mobile threats
-
Greece – 75k mobile threats
Is your phone at risk of being hacked?
Your company’s security could be in jeopardy if your work phone gets hacked. Does your personal phone also have company data on it? Probably. Then what about the phones of your teams and colleagues?
We asked the Vice President of NTT Security, Linda McCormack, what she thinks. “Companies should be worried about the financial impact of a data breach,” explains McCormack. “They should be worried both in terms of short-term financial losses and long-term brand and reputational damage. No company, regardless of its size or sector, can afford to ignore the possible consequences.
“Creating security policies seems to be a work in progress for many businesses in the UK. We see time and again organisations with good intentions when it comes to security and response planning, but then this will fall to the bottom of the priority list. These attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated and targeted security attacks, like the widespread and damaging ransomware attack we recently witnessed.”
The 2017 Risk:Value report revealed that a UK business would have to spend a huge £1.1m to recover from a breach. This is more than the global average of £1m. Then on top of this, companies can expect to see 9.5% revenue drops, and an 80 day recovery time, as well.
Is your company’s cyber security something you need to invest more time looking into?
These are some top tips you can do when abroad to protect your phone from hacking.
- Avoid using “public” digital devices, such as those at coffee shops. They are notoriously riddled with malware. Cyber criminals can also pounce on your personal information, or that of your company, very easily through these types of devices.
- Be cautious when connecting to different Wi-Fi networks abroad. These are what many cyber thieves use to hack into phones and other devices.
- Docking stations in hotels are danger zones. Cyber criminals can install malware onto such docking stations which can wreak havoc.
- Check that your apps are password protected. Why? Apps are hugely vulnerable bits of software for getting hacked.
Enjoy reading this? Then read more content like this here –
2 in 3 board directors will accept bribery to help their business
“Smart devices aren’t safe”: We spoke to a top security leader and CEO about hackers