One in four has lost a mobile phone

In a survey conducted by Norstat on behalf of Telenor, Norwegians over the age of 18 were asked questions about how they protect the content on their mobile phones.

Four percent responded that they have lost their mobile phones at some time during the last year. That implies that as many as 150,000 phones went missing in 2010.

Poor security

Even though many Norwegians have lost or were robbed of their mobile phones, people are not particular about protecting their content. Just one in 10 Norwegians uses an extra code that is automatically activated after the phone has remained unused for a few minutes. Two in 10 have even turned off the PIN code function on their SIM cards, leaving their phones completely unprotected.

“This is bad news for security in Norwegian companies. Smartphones have become handheld computers containing sensitive information on customers and business activities, available through email or applications on the phone,” said Abraham Foss, Head of Telenor Business Norway. “The greatest security risk is that the phones are lost and not well secured. That is something far too few have taken into consideration.”

Smartphones comprised half of Telenor Norway’s phone sales in 2010. Approximately 1.5 million Norwegians have a smartphone, according to estimates from Telenor-owned SmartPhones Telecom.

“The value of a phone has moved from the phone itself to the content on the phone, namely the information that you can access. Company firewalls now face a big challenge in that more and more people can now carry the entire company in their pockets and walk out the door,” said Foss.

Remotely delete your sensitive information

If you are so unlucky as to lose your phone, your employer will likely want to take precautions to ensure that work-related documents, contracts and customer information do not end up in unwanted hands. That is why mobile operators have begun offering a “kill pill” application for smartphones that can be used to erase content and lock the lost phone.

“The content on smartphones can be deleted even if you no longer have the phone in your possession. This happens when the command to erase content is sent via an application to the mobile phone,” said Stein Tømmer of SmartPhones Telecom, the producer and sub-supplier of Telenor Norway’s “Mobil Kontroll” service.

Currently only seven percent of the respondents are able to remotely delete content on their mobile phones, according to the Norstat survey. This type of security application is always “listening” for a command from the Mobil Kontroll service. In some cases, a text message can be used as a communications signal to delete content.

“In addition, this application can be used to send out set-up instructions or upgrades for all smartphones. By doing so, we can come together and help protect all smartphones in a company,” said Tømmer.

Facts:

• Oslo residents lose the most mobile phones. An estimated 43 percent responded that they have their phones on one or more occasions. Trondheim residents lose their phones the least. Only 17 percent of people from Trondheim have lost their phones. (Source: Norstat)
• 84 percent of Norwegians over the age of 50 have never lost their phones. 58 percent of people under 30 say the same.
• Content can be deleted with the help of Mobil Kontroll from Telenor Norway or similar solutions.
• Extra passwords/key codes are commonly found under “settings” on your mobile phone.