Walk into any restaurant, doctor's office, repair shop or otherplace where people can sit for a few moments and you'll notice thatthe vast majority of them are on their cell phones. They sleep withthem by their bedsides, take them with them when they exercise andfeel naked if they forget their phones somewhere.

According to Pew Research, 90% of American adults now have acell phone and 58% of those are smartphones. Afraid that they mightmiss an important call or alert, 44% of cell owners sleep withtheir phones next to them in bed and 29% describe their phones assomething they can't live without. (These last two figures are froma 2012 report and could be considerably higher as of 2015.)

Of adults who have cell phones, 93% are males and 88% arefemales. Almost 90% of residents in both cities and suburbs owncell phones, and the numbers are similar regardless of education oreconomic level. Pew also says the majority of cell phone owners(81%) use their phones to send or receive text messages and toaccess the Internet (60%).

All of this is good news for cyber-terrorists.

Mobile security firm Lookout used information from morethan 60 million global users to see which threats pose the greatestrisk to mobile phone users, and they identified three categories:malware, chargeware and adware. Some of these are greater threatsin other countries, but given our highly mobile society there arechances of exposure for everyone.

Malware can include programs like viruses, worms, Trojan horses,ransomware and spyware. It can come into a phone as active content,code or an executable script and seeks to steal user data, impactdevice performance and can even commit financial fraud. Chargewareis a form of malware that can corrupt a mobile device and thenmanipulates the user into purchasing programs or services withoutclearly notifying the user that this is occurring. Unsubscribingcan often be difficult so the user incurs charges for as long aspossible. Adware uses advertisements to generate revenue for thecreator, interferes with the use of the phone and can sometimescollect excessive personal data.

Many computer users were introduced to ransomware, a type ofmalware, last year. That threat has grown exponentially (by 75%)and is now one of the top threats for mobile users in the U.S.,U.K. and Germany. The programs lock users out of their phones andforce them to pay a "ransom" in order to unlock the device. Someprograms slow down the phone and its functions, while others likeScarePackage result in a complete loss of functionality and afinancial loss if the victim elects to pay the ransom.

In their recently released 2014Mobile Threat Report, Lookout identified several malwareprograms that users in the U.S. should be aware of:

1. NotCompatible – Lookout identified this Trojanas the top mobile threat in 2014 because it enables the operators"to harness a considerable mobile botnet to do their bidding" andallows hackers to send and receive traffic through the victim'sphone. In one instance hackers used infected mobile devices topurchase large of blocks of tickets simultaneously to circumventanti-fraud measures on ticketing websites.
2. ScarePackage – This program poses as an Adobeflash update. It scans the phone and says that it has found illicitcontent and then displays a counterfeit message from the FBI tocoerce the owner into paying the ransom in order to regain controlof the device and avoid criminal prosecution.
3. ScareMeNot – Like ScarePackage, this Trojanpretends to scan the phone for security issues and reports that ithas found illicit content and the victim must pay a ransom toregain control of the device.
4. ColdBrother – Similar to ScarePackage andScareMeNot, this program can also take a front-facing photo of thevictims and coerces them into paying the ransom.
5. Koler – Disguised as a media app, Koleroperates like the previously mentioned ransomware programs.

The endgame in all of this is what will bring in the most moneyfor hackers. Ransomware programs can charge victims as much asseveral hundred dollars to unlock their phones. The best defense isto purchase apps from a legitimate app store. If something looksfishy, it probably is says Kevin Mahaffey, Lookout's co-founder andchief technology officer. Apps that ask for a lot of personal datashould also be suspect.

While Lookout's report found that more Android devices wereimpacted than Apple products, the fact that there are more Androiddevices on the market and apps for them can be downloaded from avariety of sources may be why they experience a higher incidence ofattacks. Apps for Apple products can only be downloaded throughApple's App Store, which has a more stringent reviewprocess.