Are our mobile apps SECURE?

Mobile Industry is on “Top Gears”. Everything is moving from Web to Mobile, giving mobile user to access almost EVERYTHING on the GO.

Most of us today would believe with advancing mobile technologies, our mobile apps are far more intelligent and secure against possible data theft, viruses, protect privacy etc. But it might SURPRISE you, when a reputed digital forensics and security company viaForensics reports to say “Smartphone apps handle usernames, passwords and private app data, all of which should be stored securely or not at all. In the event of a lost device or malware infection, data stored insecurely can be compromised”

viaForensics tested  “100 financial, social networking, productivity and retail apps to see how well they were protecting user data. Three-quarters of them FAILED to adequately secure user account names”

Additionally, in the survey, it was found “76 % of the apps tested stored user names in clear text on the devices, and 10 % were doing the same with passwords, which in itself is very Shocking & Alarming!!!

Apart from above, there are many surprising facts, which can be referred at this below link:

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Mobile-Apps-Fail-to-Secure-Usernames-Passwords-User-Data-Survey-295289/

So,

Questions that gets raised here is

• How do mobile users ensure that apps they are using are safe?
• Are mobile apps pushed to market without proper security testing? 
• Is that developers’ community neglecting OR failing to implement security features, encryption mechanism for critical data may be for any reasons? Are they not educated or guided enough to understand on future implications and consequences?
• Is minimum level of mobile security awareness still not penetrated among mobile users?
• Shouldn't be Security to be kept as Top Priority over Innovation?

Hoping in coming years, we might have a better, secure mobile ecosystem evolving from our learning and this fast, growing mobile channel continues to SURPRISE many in large numbers.