New McAfee Global Research Shows Children and Teens Are More Vulnerable Than Ever to Sophisticated Mobile Threats

McAfee Corp unveiled its Consumer Mindset Survey: Mobile Report and Consumer Mobile Threat Report ahead of Mobile World Congress (MWC) Barcelona. Globally as well as in India, both the reports together reveal the level of disconnect that exists between generations over how safe mobile devices are and how vulnerable consumers are to threats on those devices.

“Meaningful protection is a personal right for consumers, whether they are connected families or individuals,” said McAfee Executive Vice President, Chief Product and Revenue Officer, Gagan Singh. “The common thread linking these two research offerings are that consumers value protection of their data, privacy, and identity. As our use of mobile devices rapidly increases, we must remember that a mobile device is a connected device, just like a computer. McAfee’s world-class Labs Research team works tirelessly to identify and protect consumers from new and emerging threats that impact all ages and connected devices, across the globe.”

McAfee’s 2022 Consumer Mindset Survey: Mobile Report – India

In this report, McAfee surveyed parents and children about their mobile behaviors as part of its larger 2022 Connected Families Research to uncover how children are using mobile devices and where their actual behavior differs from their parents’ assumptions, a new area of research in the industry that includes crucial perspective from children. Key findings from the research show:

• 13 Going on 30: While consumers understand their desktops and laptops need protection, awareness of the need for protection of mobile devices has not kept pace.
  • Globally, children and teens have higher trust in mobile devices. Most children (59%) think a new phone is more secure than a new computer, whereas parents are equally split (49%).
    • In India, most children (75%) think a new phone is more secure than a new computer, whereas only 71% of parents agree.
  • Children’s mobile devices are less protected globally. While the majority of parents (56%) use passwords to protect mobile devices, only 41% of children and teens do, creating safety risks.
    • In India, 57% of parents use passwords to protect mobile devices, while only 43% of children and teens do, creating safety risks.
  • Children are experiencing adult risks. One in 10 parents reported that children had experienced a financial information leak, and 15% of children report that an attempt had been made to steal their online account.
• Parents Protecting Their Progeny (or not): Parents demonstrate greater focus and action around protecting young children and teens on their mobile devices. Specifically:
  • In India, 39% of parents of boys aged 10-14 put mobile parental controls software on their children’s devices compared to 33% for girls of the same age.
  • Younger boys report more cyberbullying and online threats than girls of the same age, a pattern that held across all threats examined, as seen in the following:
    • In India, 27% of boys 10-14 reported a threat to their account compared to 21% of girls the same age.
    • In India, 21% of boys 10-14 reported cyberbullying. Mexico (26%), U.S. (28%), Australia (26%) and the UK (19%) reported cyberbullying at some of the highest rates of countries surveyed.
    • In India, 20% of girls 10-14 reported cyberbullying. The U.S. (22%), Australia (21%), and the UK (18%) reported cyberbullying at some of the highest rates of countries surveyed.
• Mobile Maturity and Gender Parity: While family members nearly all rely on mobile devices, how they use those devices differs greatly by gender.
  • The research showed that globally, at the age of 15, mobile use jumps significantly and stays consistent into adulthood.
  • Girls reported an earlier adoption of mobile usage in many countries studied, particularly in North America and Europe. In these regions, significantly more girls ages 10-14 are using mobile devices than boys of the same age.
• • Usage of social media in India showed significant differences by gender, and girls reported adopting almost all mobile activities at a rate higher than boys:

• • • Globally, 53% of girls across all age groups use social networks compared to 44% of boys.

• • • In India, 52% of girls 10-14 stream music compared to 42% of boys.
    • In India, 38% of girls online shop compared to 32% of boys.
  • One noted exception in India is that 55% of boys 10-14 are gaming on mobile compared to 45% of girls the same age.