On the efficacy of smartphone security: A critical analysis of modifications in business students’ practices over time

•We survey and assess undergraduate student use of smartphone security practices in 2014.•We compare our results to 2011 results of the same survey instrument.•Students are complacent in following appropriate security practices.•Students must be made more aware of security issues and should be taught the precautions that they can take to protect their information and thwart nefarious activities Welfare effects depend on ex-ante or ex-post assumptions about quality information.•Instituting training and awareness education may help curtail the complacent behavior. Perhaps no prior technology has more expediently and more ubiquitously usurped the landscape than mobile technology. Smartphones are used for social interactions, financial transactions, to increase employee productivity, and in academic pursuits. Smartphones have established omnipresence on college campuses, where students are using them for all aspects of their daily life. With such significant usage, concerns for the security of data and personal information become paramount. This study employs a survey instrument to assess undergraduate student use of smartphone security practices in 2014, and compares this behavior to results from the same survey instrument when administered in 2011. Results indicate a worrisome trend, for while more students have smartphones and a higher percentage use them for financial purposes, risky behavior continues and, in several cases, has worsened. When good security practices are not followed, their efficacy is diminished and users are left more vulnerable than ever.