Top managers are increasingly putting their firms at risk by using mobile devices to access corporate banking facilities.
According to a new survey by Kaspersky Labs and B2B International, one in every two top managers pay money into corporate accounts via a mobile banking app.
63% of those in finance departments made such transactions, while 54% of top managers and 8% of ordinary employees were also found to make such transactions.
Overall, 30% of firms are using mobile devices to access their corporate bank accounts and make financial transactions. 28% of SME’s and 34% of enterprises conducted financial transactions via mobile devices.
The findings have serious security implications, given the proliferation of mobile cyber security threats. In Q3 of 2015, Kasperky Labs detected over 300,000 new malicious programmes on mobile devices.
The Trojan-Banker, designed to steal online banking and e-payment credentials, had the highest growth rate of these, increasing from 630 programmes in the second quarter, to 2500 in the third.
Ross Hogan, Head of SafeMoney Business Development, Kaspersky Fraud Prevention said: "The trend shows a continual increase in mobile banking usage by corporate banking clients. This trend is certain to continue as corporate and consumer banking clients alike migrate to the convenience of mobile banking.
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"This creates an operational imperative for banks to very carefully consider the security and fraud prevention approaches they need to take in order to adequately ensure secure mobile banking applications, protect confidential customer data, and guard high-value corporate customer transactions."
