Symantec: Mobile redefining how brands do business

A new survey from Symantec offers tips and troubleshooting advice for small and large businesses in the mobile space. How big is the mobile potential? First, look at it from a consumer standpoint. According to comScore in 2011 just under 10% of all digital content was consumed through a mobile device; in fact, their research finds that throughout the year most mobile phone owners consumed some type of mobile media on their device.

From a business standpoint, that consumption rate is one reason to enter the mobile fray, because the consuming of mobile content doesn't have to be news or entertainment - it can also be work related. Salespeople can utilize tablets to create presentations and then serve those presentations to a client through the tablet. Other employees can remain connected to work through a smartphone or tablet via email, text and even app interfaces.

Some interesting findings from Symantec include:

• 59% of businesses are utilizing apps for line-of-business to improve efficiency
• 25% believe mobile computing risks were 'extremely high' - fears include malware, loss of sensitive information and lost/stolen devices
• Globally, businesses have lost an estimated $247,000 because of mobile computing risks
• IT costs rising to combat security risks/make the mobile interface safer for businesses

In the face of the risks of mobile security how should a business proceed? Symantec suggests first including mobile security as an important part of any mobile strategy, implement security protocols and ensure that all security software is up to date all the time.

"Security and management for mobile devices should be integrated into the overall corporate security and management framework and administered in the same way - ideally using compatible solutions and unified policies. This creates operational efficiencies, but more importantly, it ensures consistent protection across their infrastructures, whether it is on premises or in the cloud. Security policies should be unified across all popular mobile operating systems and should include DLP, encryption, and strong authentication," was written in the report.

Tags: comScore, mobile business, mobile efficiency, mobile marketing, mobile trends, Symantec