A new study by Lookout – a mobile security company, and Sprint revealed a few alarming facts about the usage of mobile phones in the Post PC era. One of these is that 1 out of 2 people don’t have a passcode on their mobile phone. Hence, it appears strange that Apple Touch ID fingerprint technology is criticized in some quarters for not being secure enough. Touch ID is far more secure than nothing.
Key findings from the study include:
- The majority of Americans admitted they can’t go one hour without checking the phone in their pocket. Texting surpasses calling and email as the feature most missed when without the phone (29%), followed by calling (26%) and emails (9%).
- Forty-four percent of people are most concerned about strangers accessing personally identifiable information like name, email and social security number from their phone
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Twenty-six percent of people admitted to clicking on unfamiliar links while browsing on mobile,
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Only forty four percent of people set a pin or a passcode on their phone.
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Eighteen percent of people even store password information on their phone.
The survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Lookout and Sprint. 1,003 Americans, 18 and older who own a mobile phone between August 12 and 19, 2013 were involved. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population.
