It's that time of year when the Mobile World Congress hits Barcelona, and McAfee has taken advantage of the fact to announce findings from new research that shows mobile device manufacturers are now spending more time and money than ever on recovering from security incidents as well as experiencing more mobile security issues than at any time before. Perhaps unsurprisingly given that smartphone numbers could hit 300 million in the market real soon.

The third annual McAfee Mobile Security Report explores manufacturers’ security experiences, concerns and priorities and indicates that security is becoming a barrier as far as service innovation and development of new business models are concerned.

How so? Well, how about the fact that half of all global manufacturers reported mobile malware infections, voice and spam attacks, third party application problems or incidents that caused network capacity issues? Or maybe that 48 percent of manufacturers agree that the cost of patching and fixing devices "significantly impacted" upon their business?

Then there was the concern shown over the security of mobile device functions which revealed some 81 percent of manufacturers worrying about mobile payments; 69 percent unconvinced by the application installation security and another 66 percent showing concern about WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. Meanwhile, 75 percent did agree that carriers and manufacturers should carry the cost of security with only a minority of 12 percent thinking that users should be involved with handling security measures.

"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 both complexity and sophistication. This elevates concerns surrounding the security for both existing and emerging services" said Victor Kouznetsov, senior vice president of McAfee Mobile Security. "Hence it is encouraging to see that mobile manufacturers are looking to regain control of providing security functionality to safeguard their users."