I recently read a technology based press release from a Government department which closed with the following security “facts”.
- 360 – 380 billion mobile phones are in operation worldwide.
- There are twice as many mobile phones as credit cards worldwide.
- There are 70 million mobile handsets in the UK, of which 4.2 million are vulnerable to ID theft.
- 80% of mobile phones contain enough data to commit identity fraud.
- 40% of mobile users state that losing phone would be worse than losing wallet.
- In the UK 16% of people carry their bank details and 24% carry passwords and pin numbers on their phone.
- In 2006, 2% of mobile users were victims of phone theft. That is 800,000 people.
The article highlighted how TfL and 02 had developed the swipe phone, German supermarkets had developed a bar code scanning system that allowed users to have shopping lists and payment details on their phone and how NTTDoCoMo is set to launch a new phone that makes house keys and cash redundant.
Is this not just making it worse?