Nearly 90% of Cybersecurity Experts Expect Uptick in M-Payment Data Breaches (Sept. 28, 2015)
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As the mobile wallet providers battle for market share—the most recent being today’s expansion of Samsung Pay to the U.S.—a sobering percentage of cybersecurity experts expect mobile payment data breaches to climb over the next 12 months. Nearly nine in 10 experts (87 percent) globally expect an increase in m-payment data breaches, 5 percent don’t expect an increase and 8 percent responded that they were unsure, according to a survey by ISACA, a nonprofit association for professionals involved in information security, assurance, risk management and governance. What’s more, 77 percent of respondents said m-payments were not secure or they were unsure of the payment method’s security.
When asked what the most significant security vulnerabilities with m-payments are, more than one-fourth of respondents pointed to the use of public Wi-Fi, 21 percent said lost or stolen devices, 18 experts said phishing attacks or shmishing, which are phishing attacks through text messages, and 13 percent said weak passwords. The best methods to improve mobile payment security: Two-thirds suggested two-factor authentication and 18 percent said using short-term authentication codes. The study also recommended ways for consumers to protect themselves when using m-payments, including making passwords complex and strong, and changing them frequently; using two-factor or biometric authentication; and avoiding public Wi-Fi use when making mobile payments, according to the study.
ISACA’s online survey conducted in August 2015 polled approximately 900 cybersecurity professionals about their use and perception of mobile payments. More than 40 percent of respondents reported using m-payments to make a purchase in 2015 and nearly 60 percent said they did not.
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