The Green Sheet Online Edition

Mobile app report identifies riskiest markets

Mobile security company TrustGo Mobile Inc.'s quarterly TrustGo Summer Mobile Mayhem Report revealed an upsurge in malicious and risky mobile application penetration globally during the second quarter of 2012. For the report, TrustGo scanned 1.7 million apps from 175 market regions, categorizing apps as certified (safe), malicious, high risk or low risk.

TrustGo reported that among the world's estimated 700 million smart phone users, a majority of app downloads come from app marketplaces, stores and download websites based in the United States, Europe, China and Russia. Further findings from the summer 2012 report include:

• Malicious apps grew to 25,580 from 11,822 during the first quarter 2012.

• China-based apps pose the highest risk with 33.2 percent flagged as risky.

• Over 1 in 6 apps on the global market could potentially compromise user security.

• Games lead in mobile threat risk; social media and productivity apps rank lowest.

• Ninety-four percent of high risk apps send user phone numbers to third parties.

"While viruses and risky apps are a global problem, some regions are more dangerous than others," said Xuyang Li, founder and Chief Executive Officer of TrustGo. "Many Chinese users can't access the Google Play marketplace, so a large number of third-party stores have popped up to fill the void. Unfortunately, this has made China's marketplaces especially insecure because many download sites haven't set up controls necessary to keep bad apps off their platforms."

According to Jeff Becker, TrustGo Head of Marketing, the key takeaway from the report is that no marketplace is completely safe. Ultimately, the consumer pays the price, he said.

Navigating the mPOS maze

A Mercator Advisory Group report titled Mobile Point-of-Sale Solutions: A Comparative Analysis evaluates 16 different mobile POS (mPOS) solutions, including simple card acceptance devices, advanced mobile registers and less traditional alternative systems. Each system is scored based upon five criteria: potential future impact, technical innovation, infrastructure evolution, consumer benefit and merchant benefit.

NFC beyond contactless payments

Forrester Research projects the number of near field communication (NFC)-enabled mobile devices shipped globally will more than double to 100 million this year, yet mainstream adoption could take three to five years in most nations. In NFC: What Lies Beyond Contactless Payments, Forrester explored cross-device experiences that extend beyond traditional use cases.

Business intelligence fuels big data

An RIS Retail Solutions Brief: From Insight to Action suggests retailers can tackle big data with business intelligence directly from the storeroom floor using such data points as available item inventory, impending price markdowns, customer purchase history and the customer's potential future value to the retailer. The brief also recommended customer segmentation and offered a breakdown of six areas where big data presents the greatest opportunity.