Encryption is one of the primary tools security professionals rely on to protect the confidentiality of information in transit or in storage. What’s important to keep in mind is that not all encryption standards are the same. Data Encryption Standard (DES) is not the same as Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), and Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) is not the same as Wi-Fi Protected Access 2 (WPA2).

Over the last few months there have been plenty of reports of vulnerable mobile devices and operating systems. Without actually chunking your device and living without technology, what can you do to raise the level of security?

Over the last several years, attackers continued to target client systems. Client systems are favored over servers since client computers are a target rich environment. One area that’s a growing threat for clients are exploits that target remote-code execution. Adobe Flash is one application that is vulnerable to remote-code execution attacks.

The mobile applications marketplace is a way for cybercriminals to reach millions of users worldwide quickly. According to recent data from market research firm comScore, smartphones — while representing only about 25% of the total U.S. wireless subscriber market — accounted for 60% of app downloads and nearly 56% of mobile browser access for a three-month period ending August 2010.