Mobile users acknowledge the importance of security, but aren’t taking the right precautions, according to Blancco Technology Group (BTG) research. BTG surveyed 1,400 consumers in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. It found that 29 per cent don’t know when personal information has been accessed without their consent. One in three don’t feel safe shopping from their smartphone or tablet and a quarter are hesitant to link credit cards to mobile apps. Twenty five per cent mistakenly believe deleting sensitive files/folder and locking devices with a passcode are effective ways to protect personal data. Only five per cent said that installing software to permanently erase data is the best way to safeguard their privacy.

BTG IT security consultant Paul Henry says: "It’s the responsibility of the original user or owner to properly sanitise their equipment before it’s traded in, resold, donated or discarded. If individuals simply rely on others to take care of protecting their data, that’s just irresponsible. Similarly, if businesses take a lax approach or don’t monitor how, when and where all of the data from their equipment is removed before it’s discarded, reused or recycled and if they fail to obtain actual verification that all data has been removed permanently, it’s just as irresponsible and can cause serious financial, legal and reputational damage."

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