IBM (Photo : Reuters/Morris Mac Matzen)
According to a new study from IBM and the Ponemon Institute, about 40 percent of big companies are not taking the correct measures to secure their mobile apps, PC Magazine reported. The study researched security practices in more than 400 big companies.
The companies that were surveyed spent around $34 million a year on mobile app development. Of this budget, 5.5 percent is presently being allocated to security. Not only that, about 50 percent of companies have no budget for security. The study also found that many of these companies prioritize speed-to-market and user experience over security and test their mobile apps for security vulnerabilities infrequently.
Nearly 65 percent of companies revealed that they put the security of their apps at risk because of consumer need. About 77 percent of companies said that rush-to-release pressures are the reason apps contain vulnerable code. However, about 33 percent of organizations never bother to test their apps for security leaks. Just 15 percent of companies scan their apps for vulnerabilities frequently.
Caleb Barlow, vice president of mobile management and security at IBM, said, "Building security into mobile apps is not top of mind for companies, giving hackers the opportunity to easily reverse engineer apps, jailbreak mobile devices and tap into confidential data."
Barlow further said, "Industries need to think about security at the same level on which highly efficient, collaborative cyber criminals are planning attacks."
According to PR Newswire, IBM has launched a new mobile threat management technology that helps fight mobile malware. IBM MobileFirst Protect Threat Management uses advanced cyber-threat and intelligence technology to identify dubious activities on mobile endpoints.
