app developers should be responsible for ensuring a safe consumer experience , far exceeding all other choices . Four out of 10 people ( 41.8 %) say they or a close friend / relative have been the victim of a cyberattack , mobile fraud or malware .

“ Given these findings , the mobile brands and businesses looking to drive adoption , lower the cost of customer acquisition and achieve higher transaction volumes should take note ,” said Richard Stiennon , Founder and Chief Research Analyst at IT-Harvest , author of the introduction to this year ’ s survey . “ Mobile app security is critical to any mobile app strategy .”

One in four consumers say that they themselves or a friend or relative have been the victim of a mobile app cyberattack .

The report features detailed data and responses from 25,000 consumers who provided insights about their mobile app usage , as well as their expectations and desires around mobile app security and protection against fraud , malware and other mobile threats .

The 12-country survey , now in its third year with 75,000 consumers interviewed , is seen as the benchmark for measuring consumer attitudes and concerns regarding mobile app security for the apps they use daily . This year ’ s survey again found that mobile apps are the preferred channel globally over web / digital platforms , and that consumers care deeply about mobile app security .

The major takeaways in this year ’ s survey are : An overwhelming majority of consumers ( 82.4 %) are mandating a new approach to mobile fraud – to proactively prevent fraud before it happens , as opposed to reimbursing them after the fraud has occurred . This represents an overwhelming shift in the fraud protection approach and all but renders existing anti-fraud solutions obsolete . More than half of consumers surveyed ( 56.2 %) said mobile brands and

A lack of in-app protections against security threats , fraud and malware can have dire consequences for mobile brands , with an eye-opening 73.7 % of consumers stating that they would likely or very likely stop using a mobile app if it experienced a breach . Similarly , 67.5 % of consumers stated that they would stop using a mobile app based merely on the perception that the app lacked sufficient protection .

On the flip side , mobile brands can reap rewards by protecting their mobile end users : an overwhelming 93.6 % of consumers say that they would engage in multiple forms of brand advocacy for mobile applications that meet or exceed their security expectations , contributing to the app ’ s success .

Global consumers want more security vs features with consumers increasingly shifting away from web-based channels , a strong demand for mobile app security has emerged with an overwhelming number of respondents , 85.6 %, indicating that protecting them against security threats , fraud and malware is equally or more important than new features . Similarly , 48.4 % of global consumers stated that they require ‘ The best protection ’, when using mobile apps , meaning ‘ protect the login and the data , stop malware and prevent mobile fraud ’.

This is 554 % higher than the number of global consumers that said protecting the login alone was sufficient . These revelations should prompt consumer brands and cyber teams to work together and shift their mindset and security budgets to mobile-first .

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