Is Your Phone Safe? Probably.

Is your cellphone insecure? Maybe, according to a study released Monday that shows an increasing number of viruses, spam and trojans hitting mobile operators worldwide.

The Informa Telecoms and Media study, sponsored by security software vendor McAfee, says that 83% of mobile operators experienced a malware problem in 2006. The number of attacks reported was more than five times as high as in 2005. Mobile malware can destroy a phone, steal contact information, or run up bills with SMiShing or text message phishing attacks.

But before you rush off to lock down your phone, take Informa's findings with a healthy helping of salt. Despite the increase, the number of cellphones actually harmed by malware remains relatively small--a fact that becomes clear digging into the study. The 200 mobile operators polled for the study reported less than 5 attacks (McAfee won't provide specific numbers) that affected more than 100,000 devices. Less than 5% (again, McAfee won't be specific) of the operators spent more $200,000 to recover from a security breach.

Mobile malware mostly targets smart phones running the Symbian operating system, which constitutes a small percentage of the American cellphone market. According to research by the Yankee Group, only about 5% of all phones sold in North America last year were smart phones. The mobile malware problem is slightly bigger abroad, according to the McAfee study: Twice as many mobile operators in Asia and Europe reported incidents affecting more than 1,000 devices last year compared with the year earlier.

The small number of actual problems doesn't scare security vendors. Symantec, F-Secure, Trend Micro, and McAfee (nyse: MFE - news - people ) all sell security software for cellphones. All that's missing are the threats.
http://www.forbes.com/2007/02/12/virus-mobile-mcafee-tech-security-cx_ll_0212mobile_print.html