**1. Introduction**

Technology has been known to continually evolve since centuries ago, creating new innovations and infrastructures that changes how economies functions and overall improves standards of living within societies, and there have been no signs of it slowing down. One of the radical innovations within this century is the introduction of mobile phones. When mobile device was first introduced in 1973, mobile devices was a bulky communication device that was considered as a luxury good that aren't affordable to everyone and has limited features.

However, as the years goes by, emerging technology and innovation has successfully created an upgraded version of mobile phones which is known as smart mobile devices. Unlike mobile phones, smart mobile devices have more features to users, where it acts more than just a medium of communication, but as a device capable of storing data, capturing pictures of memorable moments and much more. In other words, smart mobile devices had been delivering great number of benefits to everyone that it has deeply integrated itself within society's livelihood. Within this era of digitalization, more users are actively using their smart mobile devices to conduct activities such as paying bills online, managing their finances or do some online shopping as a direct result of the incremental upgrades that had been made which includes increased storage, power and speed. In addition, smart mobile devices are also a part of a large computing environment that encompasses a child's legacy, a user's persona and the keys to a user's home or digital life which includes any items in the house that is connected to the user's mobile device. But for every good thing that has been created, there's always a downside to it. New technology such as smart mobile devices also provides opportunities that could be reaped and exploited by malicious entities with ill intentions, hence exposing users and organisations to potential cyber threats such as hacking or data breaches [1–3]. According to a research made by comScore in 2016 (**Figure 1**), they have revealed that across the different age brackets of users in the UK and Canada, the average usage time of mobile devices is considerably higher than the average usage time of desktops.

A statistic developed by Broadbandsearch discovers that the total percentage of users accessing global websites through their mobile devices has increased exponentially within the last five years, ranging between the year 2013 to 2018. In 2013, the amount of combined web traffic from mobile devices was at 16.2% and the value has surged year by year, where by the combined web traffic was at a high value of 52.2% in 2018. Another research made by Statista (**Figure 2**) reveals that the number of mobile users will continue to increase within the next 5 years, where it estimated that the number of smart mobile device users will grow from 6.8 billion in 2019 to 7.33 billion in 2023.

Overall, as users spend more time with their mobile devices, these mobile devices would have accumulated and stored tremendous amounts of private data and information that it eventually becomes an attractive target for malicious groups or entities such as hackers. McAfee in their "Mobile Threat Report 2019" discovered that these cyber criminals will keep creating tactics to bypass mobile security in order to execute their cyber threat activities for the sake of one common goal, which is to maximise their income and profits.

There are various cyber threats that are affecting smart mobile devices and one of the cyber threats commonly found in mobile devices is malware. Malware had been infecting mobile devices for more than a decade and the increasing number of mobile devices infected by it is certainly very concerning. **Figure 3** shows that malware cases has increased by approximately 310% since 2016, thus reinforcing the undeniable fact that these malware authors have continued to adapt and create

**117**

**Figure 2.**

**Figure 3.** *Mobile malware.*

*Number of Mobile users.*

*Revealing Cyber Threat of Smart Mobile Devices within Digital Ecosystem: User Information…*

new tactics against any challenges it encounters [2]. Malware, in the face of cyber security and countermeasures, instead has become more serious, dangerous and harder to detect, and it shows no signs of decline. Hence, all of this shows how important it is for users all over the world to protect and keep their smart mobile devices secure and safe from becoming a victim or prey to cyber criminals through

Various researchers have highlighted the importance of protecting sensitive data from cyber threats by implementing cyber security measures within smart mobile devices. Awareness of the risk of mobile threats invading and stealing personal information from their mobile devices and the methods of mitigating this risk

The aim of this study is to measure the level of smart mobile device security and

privacy awareness. The specific research objectives are shown as follows:

2.To explore the attitudes of users towards smart mobile device security

1.To reveal the different types of smart mobile devices usage.

implementation of cyber security in mobile devices.

*Significance of the study.*

through mobile security methods. *Aim and objectives of the study.*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.95752*

**Figure 1.** *Average usage time of Mobile devices.*

*Revealing Cyber Threat of Smart Mobile Devices within Digital Ecosystem: User Information… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.95752*

**Figure 2.** *Number of Mobile users.*

*Data Integrity and Quality*

in 2019 to 7.33 billion in 2023.

is to maximise their income and profits.

In other words, smart mobile devices had been delivering great number of benefits to everyone that it has deeply integrated itself within society's livelihood. Within this era of digitalization, more users are actively using their smart mobile devices to conduct activities such as paying bills online, managing their finances or do some online shopping as a direct result of the incremental upgrades that had been made which includes increased storage, power and speed. In addition, smart mobile devices are also a part of a large computing environment that encompasses a child's legacy, a user's persona and the keys to a user's home or digital life which includes any items in the house that is connected to the user's mobile device. But for every good thing that has been created, there's always a downside to it. New technology such as smart mobile devices also provides opportunities that could be reaped and exploited by malicious entities with ill intentions, hence exposing users and organisations to potential cyber threats such as hacking or data breaches [1–3]. According to a research made by comScore in 2016 (**Figure 1**), they have revealed that across the different age brackets of users in the UK and Canada, the average usage time of mobile devices is considerably higher than the average usage time of desktops. A statistic developed by Broadbandsearch discovers that the total percentage of users accessing global websites through their mobile devices has increased exponentially within the last five years, ranging between the year 2013 to 2018. In 2013, the amount of combined web traffic from mobile devices was at 16.2% and the value has surged year by year, where by the combined web traffic was at a high value of 52.2% in 2018. Another research made by Statista (**Figure 2**) reveals that the number of mobile users will continue to increase within the next 5 years, where it estimated that the number of smart mobile device users will grow from 6.8 billion

Overall, as users spend more time with their mobile devices, these mobile devices would have accumulated and stored tremendous amounts of private data and information that it eventually becomes an attractive target for malicious groups or entities such as hackers. McAfee in their "Mobile Threat Report 2019" discovered that these cyber criminals will keep creating tactics to bypass mobile security in order to execute their cyber threat activities for the sake of one common goal, which

There are various cyber threats that are affecting smart mobile devices and one of the cyber threats commonly found in mobile devices is malware. Malware had been infecting mobile devices for more than a decade and the increasing number of mobile devices infected by it is certainly very concerning. **Figure 3** shows that malware cases has increased by approximately 310% since 2016, thus reinforcing the undeniable fact that these malware authors have continued to adapt and create

**116**

**Figure 1.**

*Average usage time of Mobile devices.*

**Figure 3.** *Mobile malware.*

new tactics against any challenges it encounters [2]. Malware, in the face of cyber security and countermeasures, instead has become more serious, dangerous and harder to detect, and it shows no signs of decline. Hence, all of this shows how important it is for users all over the world to protect and keep their smart mobile devices secure and safe from becoming a victim or prey to cyber criminals through implementation of cyber security in mobile devices.

*Significance of the study.*

Various researchers have highlighted the importance of protecting sensitive data from cyber threats by implementing cyber security measures within smart mobile devices. Awareness of the risk of mobile threats invading and stealing personal information from their mobile devices and the methods of mitigating this risk through mobile security methods.

*Aim and objectives of the study.*

The aim of this study is to measure the level of smart mobile device security and privacy awareness. The specific research objectives are shown as follows:

1.To reveal the different types of smart mobile devices usage.

2.To explore the attitudes of users towards smart mobile device security

