Hackers, IT units focusing on smartphone security

BERLIN: Mobile phones, long seen as safe amid rising threats to computer security, have become a key target for hackers and an increasing worry for corporate IT departments.

While the first mobile virus dates back to June 2004, risks from hackers remained limited because of the relatively small size of the market. But this has changed recently with the surge in the smartphone segment, which this year outgrew the PC market, and the new dominance of Google’s Android software.