ZScaler Reveals Startling Results of Security Survey

No matter how vigilant you are about guarding your personal information from online predators, it seems like there is always someone who manages to charge up acai berries to your credit card or e-mail all your friends about a “great, new” work from home opportunity. According to cloud security company Zscaler, this comes as little surprise.

In its recently released survey, Zscaler revealed that 10 percent of mobile apps leak usernames and password, 35 to 40 percent of mobile apps share personally identifiable information with third parties, and 60 percent of mobile apps share device identifiers or UDIDs. Even if you’re cautious about which apps you download, you may still be at risk, according to Zscaler developer Michael Sutton; stating, “While malicious apps grab headlines and have a greater impact on overall risk, vulnerable apps are far more prevalent.”


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Although the results of Zscaler’s survey may strike fear in the hearts of many, there is a solution.

To combat both malicious and vulnerable apps, Zscaler has developed a new app, which they will be launching next week: ZAP, short for Zcaler Application Profiler. This tool will analyze the security risks of Android and iOS apps, protecting both users and workplaces—where more and more people are bringing their own devices—from security threats.

Sutton foresees great potential benefits to utilizing this new app; saying, “We understand the importance of finding out the security risk users face before they download an app. It is far better to proceed with caution and minimize any security threat by running a quick and simple report, than to have to deal with the aftermath of a security breach, whether on a personal or corporate device.”

With new apps being developed every day, it will come as a great relief to consumers that there is a way to protect themselves from security breaches, like the ones revealed in the survey. ZAP will, undoubtedly, become as ubiquitous on mobile devices as Angry Birds, Kindle, YouTube, and Facebook.