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All eyes on mobile

Zimperium 4

Of all the data points contained in Zimperium’s recently released 2022 Global Mobile Threat Report, perhaps the most shocking is the spike in known cases of zero-day exploits being used in attacks against mobile devices. A zero-day exploit is one where the vendor is unaware of the corresponding vulnerability at the time of attack and has therefore not provided a workable patch. The number jumped to 17 from three the previous year, while the share of zero-days that were mobile-specific increased from 11% to 31%.

To me, these numbers confirm that as the primary compute device on the planet, smartphones are now rightly seen by threat actors as targets worthy of effort, a situation exacerbated in large part by the work-from-anywhere mindset necessitated by the pandemic. A compromised smartphone can be used to obtain or deduce an organization’s secrets and gain illicit access into its most vital systems.

Seen from this light, mobile security is no longer a “nice to have” but an imperative in any security program. Only with a holistic view of the threat landscape can security teams work to both prevent mobile attacks and mitigate the fallout of a compromised mobile device.

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Be Aware authored by Mike Fong. Read the original post at: https://blog.privoro.com/all-eyes-on-mobile

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Mike Fong

Mike Fong is the founder and CEO of Privoro. He is an experienced technology executive and entrepreneur who started Privoro to solve the security and privacy issues of mobile devices – from attacks of sophisticated nation-states to over-reach by corporations and apps in the “surveillance capitalism” economy. Privoro launched the SafeCase in 2018, the first high-security extensible smartphone case with built-in, patented anti-surveillance capabilities that provides unprecedented levels of protection and assurance. Prior to Privoro, Mike founded and built Calence LLC from a startup to the largest pure-play networking integrator in the US at the time of its sale, with over $300+ million in sales to corporate and government clients. Mr. Fong has also consulted, or served as a board member, to companies in many industries, including chairing the Arizona Governor’s Council on Innovation and Technology. He is a two-time Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist and was named the Ed Denison Business Leader of the Year for the State of Arizona. Mr. Fong started his career at Arthur Andersen and holds a BS degree in Electrical Engineering from Carnegie-Mellon University.

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