On behalf of the organizing committee, it is our pleasure to welcome you to Frankfurt am Main, to the fourth ICST conference on security and privacy for mobile information and communication systems (MobiSec 2012). MobiSec 2012 covers some of the most active areas of research in mobile security. The focus areas of this year’s conference are all on the application layer of security, highlighting the practical importance of security of mobile devices in concrete usages. Contributions to MobiSec 2012 range from treatments on user privacy issues, over mobile application and App security, to mobile identity management, and NFC. With the orientation toward applications, MobiSec is a perfect interface between academia and industry in the field of mobile communications.

Highlights of MobiSec 2012 are the three keynotes by our renowned keynote speakers Amardeo Sarma, Prof. Kai Rannenberg, and Kim Cameron. Mr. Sarma’s keynote explores the balance between privacy and trust in digital societies under the impact of paradigm-shifting new technologies such as M2M communication and the Cloud. Kai Rannenberg talks about the particular aspect of how to reconcile privacy with user-friendly identity management, based on mobile devices as trustworthy platforms. Kim Cameron rounds out the keynotes with his view on why the cloud makes it necessary to redefine what we mean by identity management.

Many people have contributed to the organization MobiSec. It was a privilege to work with these dedicated persons, and we would like to thank them all for their efforts. The organising committee as a whole created a frictionless, collaborative work atmosphere, which made our task an easy one. A high quality conference cannot be created without the help of the distinguished members of the Programme Committee, overseen by the TPC chairs Ioannis Kontiris and Giovanni Russello.

Thanks go to all other members of the organizing committee: Shiguo Lian (publications chair), Andreas Leicher (web chair), and in particular to Flaminia Luccio for soliciting and overseeing keynotes. The support of the conference organiser, EAI, represented by Aza Swedin and Justina Senkus of the European Alliance for Innovation, is greatly acknowledged. Finally, we'd like to thank Imrich Chlamtac and the members of the Steering Committee for their support and guidance during these months. Concluding, we hope you will find MobiSec 2012 stimulating and thought-provoking and look forward to join us in Frankfurt.

Andreas U. Schmidt, Neeli R. Prasad, MobiSec 2012 General Co-Chairs