The fifth annual “State of the Endpoint” study conducted by Ponemon Institute (News - Alert) paints mobile devices as the greatest security risks for enterprises today, up 733 percent from 2009.

The findings underline the importance of having powerful mobile device management solutions and mobile security strategies in place.

According to the study, the risk continues to grow and evolve, despite the growing prioritization of endpoint security in enterprises.

The study, commissioned by Lumension, a provider of endpoint management and security solutions said, was based on a survey of 676 IT and security professionals, who revealed that endpoint security threats have become more difficult to stop or mitigate in the last two years, with 71 percent of the respondents attesting to this fact.

More than 75 percent said mobile devices pose the biggest threat in 2014, up from just 9 percent in 2010. Additionally, while 68 percent say their mobile devices have been targeted by malware in the last 12 months, 46 percent of respondents say they do not manage employee-owned mobile devices.

The mobile security threat landscape has fundamentally changed over the last five years. The new trend shows increasing concern over the explosion of mobile devices on the network, the research said. Despite this, almost half of respondents report no efforts are in place to secure them.

Meanwhile, there is an increasing concern of targeted attacks, or advanced persistent threats (APTs). Thirty-nine percent say APTs have been one of the most concerning risks this year, an increase of 55 percent from 2009. Moreover, while 40 percent reported they were the victim of a targeted attack last year, 25 percent say they aren’t even sure if they have been, indicating that many organizations don’t have security mechanism in place to detect such attacks.

Spear phishing emails were reported as the number one attack entry point, the survey revealed.

The volume of malware attacks continues to rise, with 41 percent of respondents saying they experience more than 50 malware attacks a month, up 15 percent from three years ago.

Such malware attacks are costly, with 50 percent saying their operating expenses are increasing and 67 percent saying malware attacks significantly contributed to that rising expense.

Based on the results, Lumension suggests enterprises should seriously consider adopting new IT security strategies as per the requirements of the evolving endpoint environment.

“Security technologies should be reviewed for this emerging threat landscape. User education is also critical," said C. Edward Brice, senior vice president, worldwide marketing, Lumension.