Mobile users want better security over new features

THE consumer is mobile. In 2022, consumers made the big shift to choosing and using mobile apps first to interact, participate and transact with global brands. To hear global consumers tell it, protecting them from security, fraud and malware threats in mobile apps might rank higher than new features.

In the fall of 2022, an Appdome survey of 25,000 consumers across 12 countries including the Philippines found that more than 93 percent of global consumers would promote a brand if the brand’s mobile app protects their data and use from threats.

The report, Global Consumer Expectations of Mobile App Security, is the second global survey from Redwood City, Calif.-based Appdome, which provides a nocode mobile app security and fraud prevention platform.

With 53.5 percent of consumers now preferring mobile apps to other digital channels, the survey highlights the rapid consumer movement toward using more mobile apps and an increasing sophistication of global consumers regarding the mobile threat landscape. Likewise, it highlights the fact that global consumers now expect a higher level of security compared to prior years, especially in the mobile apps they use the most.

Top 3 Findings

1. Consumers using mobile apps pull farther ahead of online channels. Consumers’ increasing dedication to using mobile apps to interact with a brand vs. web channels is causing a tectonic shift in how brands invest to protect the global economy or their business. By doing so, consumers have gained choice and access to more services as well as redefined the scope and nature of protections needed.

2. Consumers changing the narrative on the mobile app security vs. features debate. These days, it’s not enough to protect the mobile app code, mobile IP, or pass a penetration test for compliance purposes. Now, every consumer is a mobile consumer first and some classes of mobile apps, like mobile banking, trading and investment apps, have remained at the very high end of consumer expectations regarding security and protection. However, several threats are top of mind for the current mobile consumer across all mobile apps.

3. Consumers’ willingness to be brand advocates tied to the protection in mobile apps. Big news — brand advocacy outpaces brand abandonment when it comes to protecting the mobile app. Consumers continue to state that they would abandon brands that don’t protect them when they use the mobile app. And, consumers don’t distinguish between “learning” that they are not protected and “experiencing” an unprotected attack or breach themselves.

Features vs security

To hear global consumers tell it, protecting them from security, fraud and malware threats in mobile apps might rank higher than new features.

– Comparing features vs. security. Consumers no longer accept the tradeoff between features and protection. Only 13.7 percent said “focus on features not security” or “features come first.” But approximately 2/3rd, or 62.0 percent, of global consumers said protecting consumers against security, fraud and malware threats is “just as important as (equal to) new features in your app” or “give us the best of both.”

– Protections Consumers Expect. Consumers want mobile apps to go beyond protecting the login and would sacrifice features for better protection. Most consumers (41.5 percent) would give up security in mobile apps to get better features in mobile apps. On the other hand, 47.3 percent expect mobile brands to provide “the best protection,” meaning, protect my login, my data, stop malware and stop fraud when using the app.

– Rising Tide of Personal Data on Mobile Apps. As consumers grow more comfortable sharing personal information on mobile apps, protection would accelerate trends. Obviously, the increase in data on mobile apps presents new protection challenges for mobile brands.

Mobile threats consumers fear most

– Fastest Growing: Fake Apps & the Developer Between 2021 and 2022, two new top fears in using mobile apps shot to the top in consumers’ minds. Trojan apps, or “downloading a fake app I think is the real app,” is a hot topic these days and consumers know it. In 2022, 20.3 percent said Trojan apps were a top threat.

– Dominant: Hacking, Fraud & Malware Consumers perceive threats to themselves and their use of mobile apps as the highest priority. With 50.1 percent of global consumers reporting this as the #1 threat in 2022, a hacker “hacking the mobile apps I use” remains the dominant threat in the minds of consumers.

– Declining: Data Breaches & MiTM Threat Network threats and breaches still holding top spots as major threats but continue to lose ground to on-device threats. Interestingly, although a “data breach in the network used by my mobile app” was the 3rd top threat in 2022, it dropped 42 percent from 54.0 percent in 2021 to 31.2 percent in 2022. Likewise, although the MiTM threat to mobile app use, or “someone spying on my connection” is the 5th top threat, consumers downgraded the MiTM threat from 35.2 percent in 2021 to 28.4 percent in 2022.

Appdome is the top-of-the-line solution to protect, Certify Secure and monitor threats and attacks against Android & iOS mobile apps.