Leading security brand Sophos conducted a survey during Gitex 2011 and found out that 64% of respondents are not confident that data stored on a mobile device belonging to their organization would be secure in the event it was lost or stolen.
Unsurprisingly, 58% of those polled felt that viruses were still the biggest threat to their corporate network. Of the respondents, 34% rated device theft or loss as the biggest threat, not surprising either given that mobile device security was such a hot topic for Sophos at Gitex this year.
More surprising perhaps was the fact that 32% of survey respondents said hackers were the biggest threat. Hacking is still a tiny percentage of the overall threat but the perception that it is an issue is most likely due to several high-profile attacks in recent months and the media coverage around this.
Another surprise was the fact that only 16.5% said social media was the biggest threat. Given that social media is widely used in the Middle East and is one of the major vectors for cyber criminals, this indicates that there is still a lack of understanding around social media and the threats it can pose to IT security.
