BARCELONA – Smartphone security firms are reporting a surge in demand since former NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s revelations of US and British spying activities.



It is an overdue trend, say companies selling anti-virus and firewall software, as well as cryptology specialists gathered at the four-day Mobile World Congress which opened Monday in Barcelona, Spain.



Anti-virus software seller Norton estimated in its 2013 annual survey of more than 13,000 adults that 48 percent of smartphone and tablet owners took no basic security measures such as using passwords or security software.



With concerns reawakened by the debate around Snowden’s revelations of US government spying, California-based online security specialists Silent Circle and Spanish smartphone company Geeksphone launched this week a privacy-protected device, Blackphone.



The smartphone, which sells for $629 (457 euros), has a 4.7 inch, high-definition screen, and uses Silent Circle’s Private OS version of Android, offering anonymous search, anonymous remote data wiping and private calls, texting, and file exchange.



“The Snowden disclosures have certainly raised awareness about some of these issues,” said Silent Circle president Phil Zimmermann.



“I think what we have seen is that there is a heightened sensitivity to the implications of what a loss of privacy can mean,” he told a news conference at the mobile fair.



“Just to be clear, we have never claimed that we are offering an NSA-proof device and we will not make such a claim. It would be, perhaps, foolhardy,” he added.



“But we are offering a tool that makes a huge difference to somebody who is currently using no privacy tools at all.” – AP