Half of all mobile phone manufacturers reported malware infections, voice or text spam attacks and other security incidents last year, according to new research released today at Mobile World Congress by security giant McAfee.

The firm's Mobile Security Report 2009 (PDF) found that 70 per cent of manufacturers think that mobile security is critical to their future, and highlight device protection as an important step.

"Attempts to make the mobile ecosystem more open have shown early signs of success, yet attacks on mobile networks and devices continue to grow in complexity and sophistication," said Victor Kouznetsov, senior vice president of McAfee Mobile Security.

"Hence it is encouraging to see that mobile manufacturers are looking to regain control in providing security functionality to safeguard their users."

Nearly half of mobile manufacturers said that the cost of patching and fixing affected devices had significantly affected their business, the report found.

In addition, 81 per cent of manufacturers are worried about mobile payments, 69 per cent are not convinced by the safety of installing applications, and 66 per cent are concerned about Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, according to the research.

Matthew Tyler, director at security consultancy Evolution Security Systems, agreed that mobile security will be a major issue in the months to come.

"As mobiles gain capabilities and hold more critical data and with the m-banking and m-commerce industry in its infancy it is now critical to build security in at the core of devices, carrier traffic, applications and content provision," he added.

"Security and confidence in security will be critical for customer and business adoption of these services so critical to future industry revenues."