Software Testing Blog

Mobile is the next great frontier for games, music, media and more.  In fact, Gartner says that  more than 139 million smartphones were sold last year.  And the phone makers aren’t slowing down:  Apple is planning to launch the iPhone into the Chinese market and a more affordable Android handset expected to hit the market by the end of ’09.  But haven’t we all learned that big markets make big targets — for VC dollars, for advertisers, for media coverage… and for hackers.

Doug Gross wrote a very interesting article over at CNN Tech about the one trend that could threaten to derail the otherwise unstoppable mobile movement.

Security analysts say they’ve already seen all of the major online threats — Trojan horses, viruses, worms — spreading on smartphones, often through e-mail attachments sent to the phones.

And as mobile apps have evolved from games and tip to calculators to company email, financial transactions and other mission-critical activities, the risk of security exploits grows considerably for mobile users and their employers.

The good news, experts say, is that phones present problems for hackers and other bad guys that traditional computers don’t.

Most viruses and other malware are designed for Windows, because that’s the most popular operating system. Since smartphones use a variety of different platforms, someone writing malicious software needs to pick and choose.

Wow, getting code to work across mobile platforms is so hard that even the hackers are having trouble!

The bottom line, according to experts? Treat your smartphone like a computer, not a telephone.

Sounds like good advice for mobile consumers (and developers too).  If your company builds mobile apps and you want to learn more about testing alternatives that work in the mobile world, check out our free, new mobile app testing eBook.

What do you think about the state of security for mobile apps — are you concerned and careful about your mobile online activities?  Or do you think it’s all just media hype?