Your sensitive data is showing through your mobile device networks. Cover up! There are children present.

According to a survey conducted at recent RSA (News - Alert) conference by Tenable Network Security, nearly 70 percent of those interviewed admitted that they rarely take mobile device network vulnerability into consideration when assessing network security. Even worse: they have no way to gauge precisely when data-loss occurs as a result of such availability.

The convenience that mobile devices offer often overshadows the weakness to which they expose important data to third parties. Nearly 70 percent of participants in the above survey mentioned admitted that they did not have a protocol in place for mobile phone uses. Those who did have such a protocol in effect conceded that employees rarely adhered to it, anyway.

A similar study, conducted by a Canada-based digital security firm called Websense (News - Alert) Inc. suggests security solutions that prove effective for other weak points such as password protection, firewalls and other so-called “static” security measures do not protect against the data loss on unsecured mobile networks.

Additionally, these measures do not defend adequately against new, advanced forms of malware attacks. The similarity between the two studies is striking. Despite the fact that respondents admitted that they had little or no way to gauge data loss via mobile networks, data loss itself ranks among one of the top concerns.

The security gaps that mobile device networks represent will most likely grow wider with this coming year. In response, many participants in the survey said they expected to increase the funding as well as the attention that they will invest in security systems on the mobile devices of their employees. If these companies know what is good for them, they will keep their promise. TMCnet contributor Nick McDonald reported an increase of over 3,000 percent in malware attacks on these types of networks in the year 2011 alone directed at Android (News - Alert) devices.