Not to beat a dead horse, but security on mobile devices, including on PDAs and smartphones, is lacking. Recent surveys from TNS NFO and Gartner found that while mobile users and business are implementing more wireless technologies, most aren't taking the proper precautions to ensure that their data is safe.

One company that has a solution to address at least one of these security concerns is Symantec and its AntiVirus for Handhelds Corporate Edition, which supports Windows Mobile and Palm OS device deployments in the enterprise.

The latest version of AntiVirus for Handhelds Corporate Edition, 3.2, resides on a handheld and administrators can push the installable files over their wireless management systems without requiring synchronization with a desktop for initial installation. Administrators can also change and lock product settings remotely, as a configuration file is created by the administrator and pushed to the device, carrying the desired handheld configuration settings.

In addition, the administrator can download updated definition files to their Mobile Device Management system and push the updates to their mobile devices. And, Wireless LiveUpdate can now be configured to retrieve definition updates from an internal server. So administrators who already use internal LiveUpdate servers for definition updates for desktops can configure their mobile devices to pull definition updates from the same location.

Security Risks

The potential damage from virus files is just one of the many risks out there for mobile devices. Nevertheless, TNS NFO's recent survey found that 74.6 percent of employees that use mobile devices either don't have, or don't know whether they have, any security protection. And while 86 percent of employers knowingly permit the use of these device, nearly the same number, 83.76 percent, have failed to set usage guidelines, leaving their enterprises and sensitive data vulnerable to malicious code attacks and information theft.

The TNS NFO study also found that users store vulnerable confidential information on their devices without adequate protection. For instance, nearly 40 percent of PDAs and smartphones contain credit card numbers, while over 25 percent store incomes. In addition, approximately 19 percent reveal health problems, and love letters reside on around 17 percent of mobile devices.

For more on mobile security, read our recent article "Top 10 Items You Shouldn't Allow on Employee PDAs (and what do about it)."