52 per cent of UK consumers dont feel they can sufficiently trust the security of mobile devices to pay for goods and services, according to research from messaging security company Cloudmark. Text messaging is, in general, the most trusted platform, particularly among 18-24 and 25-34 year olds – but thats quickly dropping, as 19 per cent see SMS as being less secure than a year ago.

In news which will surprise no one, the Toluna survey found that mobile social networking is rather popular, especially with younger users. 51.7 per cent of 18-24 year olds, and 41.1 per cent of 25-34 year olds, named it as the communications platform they access most regularly. But in spite of that popularity, mobile social networks arent seen as secure – only 3 per cent consider it the most trusted platform – and its getting worse. Of the 1,000 UK consumers surveyed, 22 per cent said they are increasingly disillusioned with instant messaging services, and 38 per cent claim to have less trust in social networks’ security than they did a year ago.

“The UK is increasingly reliant on a wide variety of communications platforms, as these numbers demonstrate,” says Jacinta Tobin, CMO, Cloudmark. “However, the security concerns which are incrementally chipping away at consumer confidence must be addressed to ensure this continues. In order to reduce the number and severity of security threats and encourage ongoing uptake of comms channels, the UK must look to adopt cross-platform, carrier-grade messaging infrastructure and security solutions to protect email, mobile, instant messaging and social networks from advanced threats.”