The Impact of Mobile Devices on Cyber Security - Essay Example

The paper “The Impact of Mobile Devices on Cyber Security" is a cogent example of a term paper on technology. Cybersecurity is a menace that will continue to thrive and cause harm to consumers of different technological products, as long as technology shall continue to be used. The level of technological growth in the past decade has been unprecedented, and the security threats currently experienced have come as a threat to many. Statistics have shown that 91% of the American adults at least own a mobile gadget, while 55% of this population is using advanced gadgets such as tablets and Smartphone (Mobile Technology Fact Sheet, 2014).

Thus, at such an age where the technological mobile device use is so rampant, the question that begs an answer is whether the population is aware of the potential security threats to their devices. The increased use of wireless technological devices opens a floodgate of cybersecurity threats to the owners of such gadgets (Global Focus, 2013). Therefore, this discussion seeks to analyze the impact of mobile devices on cyber security, with a view to establishing whether mobile devices have served to increase or to reduce cyber security threats.

DiscussionThis discussion takes the view that; mobile devices have impacted on cyber security through increasing the potential security threats. This is due to the following factors:Increased mobile devices ApplicationsThe emergence of the mobile devices that have become so much rampant in the modern-day, with almost everyone able to access a technological mobile device that can connect to the internet, the need for mobile software and applications that assist such functionality has been on the rise (Smith, 2012).

The implications of this is that; with the increased production of mobile devices software and applications, there is an equally increased rate of security threats that are targeting to hack or infect the mobile applications and software. This serves to mean that the more the mobile devices use becomes rampant, then, the higher the cyber security threats will have to be faced (Joshi, 2013). Interconnectivity f the mobile devicesThe technological advancement has led to the production of wireless technological devices that can also be connected to personal and desktop computers, when the user wants to transfers files or documents from the mobile device to the computer, or vice versa (Global Focus, 2013).

This being the case, then, the threat of cyber security increases two folds, since when the technological device is attacked, it poses the threat of transmitting the virus or the cookies applied by the hackers to steal valuable information such as password and other authentications into the personal computer or the desktop computer (Smith, 2012). The implication is that; the hackers or the attackers can be able to steal valuable information from both the mobile device and the computers belonging to the user.

This means that the attackers do not only affect the mobile device, but also the other peripheral gadgets and computers connected to the mobile device, thus leaving the user even more vulnerable to attacks and hacking. Payment services vulnerabilityThe technological advancement in the mobile devices industry has been revolutionary, such that it is now possible for an individual to register and make payments to different platforms, using the mobile devices (Joshi, 2013). The single fact that mobile devices are now being applied as payment systems, has made the mobile device segment become very attractive to the hackers, attackers and cyber criminals, who are targeting money theft from the mobile devices during the transfer process.

Therefore, the cyber criminals targeting mobile devices are seeking to create different forms of malware that the mobile users can install into their mobile devices when using sites such as the social media platforms (Global Focus, 2013). This, in turn, helps them to steal valuable information from the mobile devices, which enables them to engage in money theft from the mobile payment platforms unnoticeably. Ease of mobile devices security breachThe mobile devices have become a very attractive segment for cyber security threats and cyber criminals, considering that it is a segment that has the highest chances of a security breach (Smith, 2012).

Most of the mobile device users rarely use security measures such as a password or other authentications on their mobile phones, like they do with their computers. This leaves the mobile devices much more vulnerable to the cyber security threats of virus attacks and hacking of useful information (Patrick, Griswold, Raab & Intille, 2008). ConclusionIn conclusion, therefore, the impact of mobile devices on cyber security is that it has served to increase cyber security threats. This is because; mobile devices are more vulnerable to security and authentication protection breaches, while they are also an important target, due to the rise of the mobile payment systems.

Additionally, mobile devices have increased cyber security threats, due to their connectivity to personal and desktop computers, thus transferring the threats of virus attacks and hacking to the computers. Nevertheless, with the observance of appropriate security measures, mobile devices can overcome the heightened looming cyber security threats.