Mobile devices: A phisher's paradise

Mobile devices — especially smartphones — have gained widespread adoption in recent years, due to the plethora of features they offer. The use of such devices for web browsing and accessing email services is also getting continuously more popular. The same holds true with other more sensitive online activities, such as online shopping, contactless payments, and web banking. However, the security mechanisms that are available on smartphones and protect their users from threats on the web are not yet mature, as well as their effectiveness is still questionable. As a result, smartphone users face increased risks when performing sensitive online activities with their devices, compared to desktop/laptop users. In this paper, we present an evaluation of the phishing protection mechanisms that are available with the popular web browsers of Android and iOS. Then, we compare the protection they offer against their desktop counterparts, revealing and analyzing the significant gap between the two.