The top wireless applications and functions cited include corporate e-mail, web-based e-mail, and voice communications, with significant numbers of respondents reporting the use of other sophisticated applications, including web access, SMS or MMS, and remote access to corporate networks and databases.

Altogether, more than 80% of the more than 1,500 respondents who have completed the survey to date said their organizations’ use of handheld devices has increased over the past two years, and 85% indicated that those devices should require security protection.

Half said that "viruses or attacks on the wireless corporate network" represented their #1 concern, with another one-third placing "security of data during transmission over wireless or cellular networks" at the top of their list of worries.

In terms of specific wireless applications, majorities of respondents indicated that they are "very concerned" regarding security of their corporate e-mail, as well as remote access to their corporate networks, including the use of shared files, database access and the like.  Right behind these concerns:  access to web-based e-mail (cited by 46% of respondents); CRM (40%) and web access (30%).

"The survey clearly indicates that even as smartphone and wireless network use explodes, customers continue to be concerned about security breaches, especially when using wireless broadband connections," said Mark Komisky, CEO of Bluefire Security Technologies, a developer of security solutions designed for mobile handheld devices, which partnered with the leading wireless industry online publication, FierceWireless, to administer the survey.

Source:  FierceWireless (http://www.fiercewireless.com)