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Companies starting to buy mobile security: Symantec

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Author: WildC@rd

Corporations are starting to invest to mobile security software, but among consumers the takeup is still at least a year away, a senior official of U.S. security software firm Symantec (Nasdaq:SYMC - news) said on Thursday. "In enterprises, this is starting to happen now, but in consumer side I would not expect a large uptake at least for a year," Sarah Hicks, vice president for strategy, told Reuters in an interview at mobile communications fair 3GSM in Barcelona. She said the world's largest security software maker was benefiting from its wide customer base among corporations who are starting to invest in mobile security software as the amount of advanced handheld devices grows. "I think (our customer base) is a huge benefit to us ... we have a lot of our existing customers coming to us. They are looking for their traditional security provider," she said. "In the consumer market, it is going to be operator driven. In enterprises, the market is more direct," she said. Operators are starting to fit security software to subscribers' cellphones, even though the threat from viruses and other rogue programs is still distant. F-Secure (FSC1V.HE) of Finland, the global market leader in mobile security, has won six deals with operators and it expects to generate profits from mobile business between 2006 and 2008, when it sees the sector becoming mainstream. "By no means has this game been established," Hicks said, adding that becoming the world's largest provider of security software for mobile operations would be "a good call" for the company. Research firm IDC believes the market for mobile security software will grow around 70 percent annually to nearly $1 billion in 2008, as more people start to use e-mail and the Internet on their phones. More than 50 million advanced "smartphones" are in use, providing mobile access to the Internet and e-mail, although they make up only a small percentage of all mobile phones in the world. "Over 90 percent of phones really do not really have vulnerability," Hicks said. Now there are some 100 mobile viruses, which can kill a phone or create bills of hundreds of euros by sending pricey picture messages. While the mobile industry and security software firms say the risk of catching one is small, it is growing, and there are already thousands of infected phones. "In terms of threats we are in teeny tiny beginning," Hicks said. "We are very cautious to make it into more than what it is. It's just starting to get to the radar." Hicks said the top threat remains -- for the time being -- losing your device.
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