Study into the Implications of Smartphone Operating System Security

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Study into the implications of Smartphone operating system security Consumer awareness practices and programmes are currently being offered by a number of stakeholders including MNOs, government-sponsored bodies and law enforcement agencies including UK Police. MNO Most, if not all, of MNO initiated communication to consumers on Smartphone threats is via their websites. There is an opportunity to advise UK consumers on the latest threats to Smartphones when a consumer purchases a phone and network plan but from experience this is not happening. Unfortunately, security advice is not easy to find on these websites and is usually buried away in the support pages. It is our belief that most consumers will not go looking for information and advice on security. There is an obligation for an organisation to have a statement on ‘privacy’ on their websites why not for ‘security’? The following is a summary of Goode Intelligence’s findings when searching for Smartphone security advice on the websites of the major UK MNOs. It is not intended to be a comprehensive review of the ability of UK MNOs to offer security advice to its consumer customers. T-Mobile There was no obvious location for security questions and concerns about Smartphone security. On a Google search for “T-Mobile Smartphone security” an FAQ on security was displayed and this can be viewed here. The security FAQ detailed a number of general security facts on topics including: What do I do if my phone is lost or stolen? What should I do if I discover illegal material online? What does T-Mobile do to prevent identity fraud? How does identity fraud happen? Telefonica O2 Similarly to T-Mobile there is no obvious area of the website where security advice is offered. There are facts and advice on the support pages of the O2 UK website that deal with: How do I wipe a Blackberry of personal information? Is O2 Wallet secure? The security code for my mobile isn’t working Orange Goode Intelligence © 2013 P a g e | 97 www.goodeintelligence.com
Study into the implications of Smartphone operating system security On its UK website, Orange doesn’t specifically offer any obvious messages and advisories on Smartphone security. A search on “Smartphone security” did not return anything specific and included links to articles on: Is mobile broadband secure? How secure are mobile contactless payments? Why do I have problems viewing secure sites? Vodafone There were no clear messages on consumer Smartphone security on Vodafone’s UK website. There was some specific information on certain Smartphones, such as “How do I change my SIM PIN” but no obvious place where advice was on keeping Smartphones safe. Three A search on the Three’s support website for “Smartphone security” came back with no suggestions and this message “Sorry, No results were found.” A similar search on “security” came back with 30 suggestions and they included: Voicemail security Staying secure online Removing viruses from your computer Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOS) MVNOs, including Virgin Media, are similar to MNOs in that they offer little advice on how consumers should and can protect their Smartphones. Government-sponsored bodies The main government-sponsored body for raising consumer awareness for security issue s for Information Technology and computing is Get Safe Online. Get Safe Online is a public-private partnership whose aim is to be “the UK’s leading source of unbiased, factual and easy-to-understand information on online safety”. Goode Intelligence © 2013 P a g e | 98 www.goodeintelligence.com
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Study into the Implications of Smartphone Operating System Security

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