Nearly one-third of global companies use mobile devices to access corporate bank accounts and conduct financial transactions: study

More than 30% of global companies use mobile devices to access corporate bank accounts and conduct financial transactions, according to a new survey released on Monday.

The joint survey, conducted by cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab and market research company B2B International, involved more than 5,500 companies in 26 countries. The survey, titled Financial Fraud: The Impact on Corporate Spend, found that 28% of small and medium companies and 34% of enterprises conducted financial transactions via mobile devices.

In addition, financial departments (63%), managers (54%) and even employees (8%) freely make corporate financial transactions via mobile apps, the survey found. “This growing use of mobile devices for corporate banking could put company funds at risk, as mobile cyberthreats have become more widespread in recent years,” Kaspersky Lab added in a media release.

Hackers are increasingly targeting mobile platforms, with Kaspersky Lab noting that in the third quarter of 2015, Kaspersky products for mobile devices detected more than 300,000 new malicious programs. Of these threats, the highest growth rates were demonstrated by a Trojan-Banker designed to steal credentials to Internet banking and e-payment systems, as well as credit or debit card data. The share of this type of malware increased from 0.6% (630 programs) in the second quarter to 1.5% (2,500 programs) in the third quarter, the report noted.

Overall, the survey found that 35% of businesses have experienced a phishing attack; 5% of businesses offering consumer services have experienced an incident involving point-of-sale intrusion; and 10% of financial services companies reported a targeted attack, compared to 9% for e-commerce and 4% for consumer services.

“The trend shows a continual increase in mobile banking usage by corporate banking clients,” said Ross Hogan, global head of the fraud prevention division at Kaspersky Lab, in the release. “This trend is certain to continue as corporate and consumer banking clients alike migrate to the convenience of mobile banking. 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.”