Why Improving Mobile App Security Is So Hard

While demand for mobile applications is growing at astronomical rates, so too are the security vulnerabilities that affect those apps. Although most companies consider the risks to be significant, just a small percentage of mobile application development budgets is being allocated to securing those apps, according to a survey of 640 IT professionals conducted by the Ponemon Institute on behalf of IBM. Worse yet, only 29 percent of those polled said they have the resources they need to address the issue, and only 14 percent gave high ratings to their capabilities in this area. "For a variety of reasons, companies find it difficult to improve the security of their mobile applications," the study stated. The report recommends frequent testing of mobile apps, ensuring the "rush to release" does not have a negative impact on coding practices, conducting training and education programs for development teams, increasing budgets for mobile app security, and implementing policies and procedures to control employees' risky behavior. For solution providers across the channel, testing and securing mobile applications represents a major opportunity.