Filipino mobile users value security and believe that “all apps” should carry the highest level of security, according to a recent survey conducted by mobile cybersecurity company Appdome.
Jan Sysmans, Appdome mobile app security product lead for Asia- Pacific, told reporters 40.1 percent of Filipino consumers believe that all apps sharing personal information must possess cutting-edge security features to protect them from illegal transactions on the mobile platform.
For apps engaged with in-app purchases, only 17 percent of Filipino consumers believe it must have premium security features. In-app purchases belong to the freemium model of advertising for monetizing mobile applications for content, according to an article by Adam Barone posted in Investopedia.
The Filipino consumer will say “you have to provide the best protection to me. It is very clear what they want. It’s not only general protection but protection from malware and other scams,” Sysmans said in their latest survey titled “Filipino Consumer Expectations of Mobile App Security.”
However, there is no solution for phishing because it belongs to social engineering, according to Sysmans.
Nevertheless, 38.4 percent of Filipinos users of eWallet applications such as GCash and Maya should have the highest level of security, higher by 106.6 percent than the global baseline. “The explosive growth of GCash and Maya is a sign that people prefer to use mobile devices when conducting financial transactions,” he said.
Furthermore, Sysmans said Filipino consumers ranked two categories over their global counterparts with 8.8 percent of Filipinos expressing that food ordering and delivery apps, and 5.5 percent pointing out that mobile game and betting apps should have top-level security. Filipinos were also at par with their global counterparts with 6.3 percent saying retail and shopping apps should have the highest level, on the same level with the global level of 6.7 percent. Meanwhile, 15.3 percent of Filipinos noted that work-based apps should have the highest level of security, which is 611 percent higher than the global level.
Sysmans said the popularity of an app indicates higher expectations for the brands. “As Filipino use more mobile apps, their security expectations also increase almost in lock-step,” he said.
He noted that Filipinos garnered high usage in social media/dating and mobile banking apps at 59.6 percent and 27.1 percent respectively. Moreover, Filipinos using those apps gave high premium on security at 25.7 percent and 21.2 percent, respectively.
Sysmans said the highlight of the survey was that Filipinos stated that they prefer security over features since only 10.8 percent of Filipinos favor features over security 21.7 percent lower than the global level of 13.7 percent.
He said the reason behind this is that 21.1 percent of Filipino consumers believe that “protecting consumers against security, fraud and malware threats” is more vital than features in the app.
The survey covered 25,000 mobile subscribers across 11 countries, including the Philippines, Australia, Colombia, Brazil, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, Singapore, Spain and the United States.
