Date: 13/05/2012

Mobile tech adoption is difficult if consumer trust not addressed, finds Juniper's survey

Juniper Networks has released findings from its first annual Trusted Mobility Index, which found the vast majority of people are using mobile technology today that they do not necessarily trust. The global survey of 4,037 mobile device users and IT decision makers found mobile technology adoption is outpacing confidence.

According to the survey, individuals are using more mobile devices, applications, services and networks than ever before and they are accessing critical personal and professional information while "on the go."

Despite this growth, consumer trust is uncertain.

Just 15 percent of respondents have a great deal of confidence in the security of their mobile devices and services. At least 63 percent of the total respondents are at a crossroads and simply do not know if they should trust that their mobile experiences are secure.

This lack of consumer confidence puts mobile adoption at risk.

The survey found that all it would take is a single security vulnerability for people to change their mobile behaviors or abandon certain mobile services altogether.

71 percent of people said they would stop using critical services like online banking (78 percent), that they would no longer send private communications (57 percent) and they would stop viewing medical (54 percent) or work related information (52 percent).

According to the survey, mobile security is an important issue that affects everyone - not just corporations and many have a part to play in building more trusted mobile experiences.

Other findings of the survey are:

A complex and confusing mobile landscape

· Mobile users worldwide own an average of three Internet-connected devices, while nearly one in five people (18 percent) own five or more devices.
· Three-quarters (76 percent) of mobile users access their banking or personal medical information while on the go, while 89 percent of respondents who use their personal devices for business purposes, say they access sensitive work information.
· Further, the trend toward a "bring your own device" (BYOD) enterprise is creating new concerns for IT leaders, with nearly half of all respondents using their personal device for work (41 percent) without permission from their company.

Key stakeholders in trust

· Mobile users rank network security (69 percent) and network reliability (45 percent) as the top two drivers of trust in their mobile devices, followed by device security (43 percent).
· The majority of mobile device users (63 percent) hold service providers most responsible for protecting their sensitive data, followed by device manufacturers (38 percent) and software security providers (34 percent).
· For advice on mobile security, people look to industry security experts (20 percent), service providers (14 percent), software security providers (13 percent) and device manufacturers (10 percent).