By next year, 75 percent of mobile applications will fail basic security tests.

Enterprise employees download from app stores and use mobile applications that can access enterprise assets or perform business functions, and these applications have little or no security assurances.

According to Gartner, these apps are “exposed to attacks and violations of enterprise security policies.”

“Enterprises that embrace mobile computing and bring your own device (BYOD) strategies are vulnerable to security breaches unless they adopt methods and technologies for mobile application security testing and risk assurance,” explains Dionisio Zumerle, principal research analyst at Gartner. “Most enterprises are inexperienced in mobile application security. Even when application security testing is undertaken, it is often done casually by developers who are mostly concerned with the functionality of applications, not their security.”

Gartner says its analysts are taking a deeper look at the outlook for security solutions at the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit taking place this week in Dubai.

The post Most Mobile Apps Have a Problem… a Big Problem appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

On Thursday, Airpush announced what some are calling a major initiative to help eliminate malware distribution.

The announcement came at the SF AppShow where Airpush confirmed its partnership with Appthority, a leading and highly respected expert force in mobile app security.

“Mobile malware has been a thorn in the side of the thriving app ecosystem,” said Kevin Watkins, CTO and co-founder of Appthority. “We are proud to assist Airpush with the technology that improves the state of security across the app world. Airpush is being proactive by attacking the malware problem at its source distribution and that demonstrates their commitment to protecting their customers.”

Airpush says the partnership will integrate Appthority’s mobile security technology directly into the Airpush platform. The result will be a comprehensive scanning of all advertiser app promotions and URLs. This naturally serves as a nice supplementary level of security in Airpush’s manual approval process.

By integrating Appthority’s technology directly into its platform, Airpush has “virtually eliminated the threat of mobile malware distribution via its network of over 50,000 applications.”

To learn more about Airpush, click here.

The post Airpush Teams with Mobile App Security Specialists at Appthority appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The survey shows that neither the app stores nor the app developers provide the information parents need to determine what data is being collected from their children, how it is being shared, or who will have access to it.

“At the FTC, one of our highest priorities is protecting children’s privacy, and parents deserve the tools to help them do that,” said FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. “Companies that operate in the mobile marketplace provide great benefits, but they must step up to the plate and provide easily accessible, basic information, so that parents can make informed decisions about the apps their kids use. Right now, it is almost impossible to figure out which apps collect data and what they do with it. The kids app ecosystem needs to wake up, and we want to work collaboratively with industry to help ensure parents have the information they need.”

The FTC is once again raising questions that we at MMW frequently hear from parents and others in the mobile app world.

According to the FTC report, in 2008, smartphone users could choose from about 600 available apps. Today there are more than 500,000 apps in the Apple App Store and 380,000 in the Android Market. “Consumers have downloaded these apps more than 28 billion times, and young children and teens are increasingly embracing smartphone technology for entertainment and educational purposes.”

The report notes that mobile apps can capture a broad range of user information from a mobile device automatically, including the user’s precise geolocation, phone number, list of contacts, call logs, unique identifiers, and other information stored on the device.

At the same time, “the report highlights the lack of information available to parents prior to downloading mobile apps for their children, and calls on industry to provide greater transparency about their data practices.”

To read the full report, click here.

Does the FTC report change your view regarding children using mobile apps?

The post FTC Says Mobile Security for Kids is Largely ‘DisAPPointing’ appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.