Cyber security experts consider mobile payments are unsafe

A survey by ISACA of more than 900 cyber security experts shows that an overwhelming majority (87 per cent) expect to see an increase in mobile payment data breaches over the next 12 months. The 2015 Mobile Payment Security Study from the global cyber security association suggests that people who use mobile payments are unlikely to be deterred by security concerns.

The survey results show cyber security professionals are willing to balance benefits with perceived security risks of mobile payments:

• Only 23 percent believe that mobile payments are secure in keeping personal information safe. 
• Nearly half (47 percent) say mobile payments are not secure and 30 percent are unsure. 
• At 89 percent, cash was deemed the most secure payment method, but only 9 percent prefer to use it.

The ISACA survey respondents, meanwhile, ranked the major vulnerabilities associated with mobile payments:

1. Use of public wifi (26 percent) 

2. Lost or stolen devices (21 percent) 

3. Phishing/shmishing (phishing attacks via text messages) (18 percent) 

4. Weak passwords (13 percent) 

5. User error (7 percent) 

6. There are no security vulnerabilities (0.3 percent)

Many of the cyber security experts believe that the most effective security measure way to make mobile payments more secure is using two ways to authenticate their identity (66%).

This is followed by short-term authentication codes (18%), and installing phone-based security apps (9%).

The number of mobile payment users in Africa as at 2012 was estimated at 57.8 million, and only second to 85 million in Asia and the Pacific. The figure is expected to rise to 101.3 million users by