Let’s start with the definition of mobile device by Wikipedia:

"A mobile device (also known as cellphone device, handheld device, handheld computer, palmtop or simply handheld) is a pocket-sized computing device, typically having a display screen with touch input or a miniature keyboard."

Mobile devices are classified into various groups:

(1) Mobile computers

• Notebook PC
• Ultra-Mobile PC
• Handheld PC
• Personal digital assistant/Enterprise digital assistant
• Graphing calculator

(2) Handheld game consoles

(3) Media recorders

• Digital still camera
• Digital video camera
• Digital audio recorders

(4) Media players/displayers

• Portable media player
• e-book reader

(5) Communication devices

• Mobile phone
• Cordless telephone
• Pager

(6) Personal navigation devices

(7) Other accessories

In this series of articles, we deal with mobile device security issues, having in mind the devices that are more frequently used in a professional environment, such as notebooks, mobile phones, etc., and neglecting other things, like game consoles, that are normally not used at work (unless your job is in the game industry).

Part 1 of 5 extracted from an original article written by Shon Harris entitled:

Mobile Device Security

Read Part 2 - Mobile Devices - Security Implications And Countermeasures
Read Part 3 - Mobile Devices - Access Control, Wireless Network Risks And Security Implementations
Read Part 4 - Viruses, Malware And Various Threats To Mobile Devices