Endpoint-to-cloud security provider Lookout’s latest threat intelligence index has revealed that Australians were the most exposed to mobile app threats on a per-device basis compared to the rest of the world. 

Results from the Lookout App Threats Map, which analysed over 160 million applications across the globe, found that Australia had over 26.9 per cent of mobile app threats detected in comparison to the US and UK with 1.4 per cent and 2.8 per cent respectively. 

“Australians may have become complacent when it comes to downloading applications to their phones, at a time when risks are higher than ever,” Lookout’s Senior Director of Asia Pacific and Japan Don Tan said. 

“Across the nation, they’ve been using their phones to check-in, order food and more – this common usage of phones has perhaps bred complacency about the applications they’re downloading. But they need to become more vigilant than ever.” 

The Lookout App Threats Map is derived from anonymous telemetry data extracted from the Lookout Security Graph, which analyses telemetry data from over 200 million devices and 160 million apps, ingesting and analyzing more than four million URLs every day.  

The map’s current data covers the period from February 2021 to March 2022. 

“People across Australia need to become more vigilant when downloading applications, or this number will rise and their financial details and other personal information will continue falling into the hands of criminals,” Mr Tan said. 

“It’s important for people to check the links attached to anything they download, as well as the download count and customer reviews on the app store.” 

It was also revealed that a vast majority of the mobile app threats Australia faces have come from iOS devices rather than Android devices, indicating a degree of security complacency within the community of iOS users. 

“Apple does an outstanding job with mobile security, and because of this strong reputation its users can often be lax with their own security practices,” Mr Tan said.  

“It’s dangerous to operate under the assumption that any device you use is completely safe, regardless of the manufacturer, and people need to apply the same security precautions to every device they use.” 

Eliza Sayon

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Eliza is a content producer and editor at Public Spectrum. She is an experienced writer on topics related to the government and to the public, as well as stories that uplift and improve the community.

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