$429,000 per year for mobile computing security mishaps is a compelling number

If mobile security isn't on your mind, you are not reading enough news, you are a Blackberry device user, you are a "It won't happen to me" type or you are a phisherman, scammer or malware proliferator. Mobile security is at or near the top of everyone's security lists. As it should be. Mobile security is muddied by a lot of vendor hype and marketing confusion. What do you believe and whom should you believe about mobile security? The answer, I'm afraid, is "it's complicated." It must be more complicated than I ever anticipated because I've been told that the $429,000 number "isn't compelling."

Symantec's State of Mobile Computing Survey (Jan 2012) found the following loss information related to mobile computing security incidents:

"The average annual cost of mobile incidents for enterprises, including data loss, damage to the brand, productivity loss, and loss of customer trust was USD$429,000 for enterprise. The average annual cost of mobile incidents for small businesses was USD$126,000."