Data loss doesn’t worry us

Hyderabad: Your smartphone might soon become a victim of malware attack if you aren’t concerned about protecting the content on it. Reflecting this callousness of most smartphone users in India is a survey that says one in four Indians choose not to use any security solution to protect their data. A Norton survey on ‘Mobile trends in India’ reveals that 29 per cent of smartphones users in India do not use passwords. This also means that most of them aren’t aware of mobile security solutions while a small percentage, even being aware, do not wish to use them. India currently has about 44 million smartphone users. “Decreasing device and data costs, coupled with a wide range of features that today’s smartphones offer, readily encourage consumers to trade in their traditional cellphones for handsets with much more functionality,” says a Neilsen report. Despite increasing number of users upgrading to smartphones, their complacency towards protecting data might, however, prove costly. The Norton survey also points to how Indians are lazy in tracking their lost mobile phones. About 53 per cent of them have so far lost theirmobile devices or had it stolen. “Only 22 per cent of them have tried to locate their devices using a tracking software,” the survey says. Surprisingly, 48 per cent of them have been concerned about disabling their device by calling their mobile service provider whenever they lost their mobile phone. Despite their complacency that Indian smartphones users are happy with, 68 per cent of them feel they are addicted to the net. Further, 43 per cent of them who use the Internet through mobile would like to save files on the mobile phone, owing to convenience and mobility. On the other hand, Indians also exhibit some good online habits while accessing the Internet through mobile. The survey says that 73 per cent download applications from trusted sources and also limit their visit to various various websites. Interestingly, 59 per cent of the smarthphone users do not wish or disallow geographic location tracking.