Results from a survey into Australians using mobile phones found 39 percent of men and 26 percent of women have lost or had their mobile phones stolen before.
On average 32 percent of people had had their phones lost of stolen, with the age group 18 – 24 most likely to have experienced loss or theft with 51 percent. Residents of Tasmania were the least likely to be affected (only 20 percent), with the ACT reporting the highest rate of incidents at 45 percent.
Most people reported losing their mobile phone while in a taxi or using public transport 28 percent, followed by when they were on holidays at 18 percent and while our drinking in pubs / bars at 13 percent.
Surprisingly, women were more likely to part ways with their phone in a bar / pub 17 percent vs men 10 percent, whereas men were slightly more likely to lose their mobile in a taxi / public transport women 26 percent vs men 28 percent and the gym women 1 percent vs men 4 percent.
As more and more Australians investing in expensive, fashionable smartphones, experts are calling for better loss and theft protection. Today’s mobile phones are capable of storing a lot of valuable information, which can be used for malicious purposes if the phone falls into the wrong hands.
Indi Siriniwasa, regional director of F-Secure Australia and New Zealand, says people should be cautious about what they store on their phones and have ways of securing the data stored on mobile devices.
“Many people today, either knowingly or unknowingly, carry a lot of sensitive information on their phones, be it names and addresses, pictures or business information. The last thing you want is for this to fall into the wrong hands.”