Ofcom Communications Report 2010

Some interesting facets have arisen about the use of communications within the UK general public out of this year’s Ofcom Communications Report 2010.

The mobile is clearly the fastest growing communications industry at present, particularly amongst the nation’s next adult generation, the 15-24 year olds.  Over 60% of 15-24 year olds use their mobile phones for social networking and texting, with those 50+ preferring to use their phone for traditional calling.  The use of internet browsing is cited as the most popular mobile internet activity currently occurring with a 240% increase in data volume over the past year.  It is understandable therefore that people are reluctant to give up their mobile when faced with cut backs in spending on communications (Ofcom, 2010:4)

Amazingly, over 100 billion texts have been sent in the past year, equating to 1,700 texts per person in the country!  The UK has become a nation of fast-fingers, with young and old embracing the changing technology of the 21st century.  This is reflected too, in the fall of fixed land line telephone services, and the rise in mobile phone only households and 1 in 4 claims to have a Smartphone.

Smartphone’s are a handy thing to have according to the survey, as users spend more than 8 hours a month browsing the internet on them, as opposed to around 3 hours a month for other more basic devices and the average pages browsed total 83 per user!

Well, the mobile is becoming a handy ‘mobile’ tool to have in your pocket, and protecting that expensive purchase, or the data within, should be a priority in today’s multifarious society.

Be aware of mobile security breaches

The growing incidents of mobile phone security breaches are now reaching more serious connotations.

The UK has had its problems with security this past year, with government officials losing data on hundreds of thousands UK citizens, and it is hoped lessons have been learnt and systems put in place to prevent these occurrences happening again.

Just recently however, the extent of mobile phone breaches has come to attention with stolen mobiles being planted at the site of bomb attacks to deflect blame from the real perpetrator, in India.  http://bit.ly/cVveHd

Additionally, Rahul Ghandi, the Congress General Secretary, had his mobile stolen from his baggage, after check-in by out-sourced baggage handlers.  The perpetrators were only caught after CCTV footage was used to uncover the crime.  It appears, for lesser mortals travelling through some of India’s airports this could be a regular occurrence, but would go unreported due to ‘no celebrity’ status!

What is more serious however, is the amount of information that Mr Ghandi held on his phone – a potential for disaster if fallen into the wrong hands.

UMU Global is at present working closely with Connect InfoTech in the heart of India.  The Mobile Security products available are valuable pieces of software for any mobile user.  Threats of loss or stolen devices, disruption by malware and viruses and annoying spam, can all be reduced by UMU specially developed mobile phone software www.umuglobal.com.

Don’t get caught out, where ever you might choose to travel in the world, UMU works hard to protect your data – be safe, be sure, be UMU.