Adjusting security level of mobile device based on presence or absence of other mobile devices nearby

A mobile device that self-adjusts a security status, the device comprising:

• a security data collection agent that collects security-related contextual information which includes information of a nearby mobile device, wherein the security-related contextual information includes an accelerometer trace;
• a threat level evaluator that evaluates a current threat level based on the collected security-related contextual information by determining whether the nearby mobile device is a known mobile device;
• a security policy holder that stores a set of security policies;
• and
• an authentication engine that adjusts the security status of the mobile device based on the threat level and the security policies.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for adjusting security status on an intelligent mobile device, the method comprising:

• collecting security-related information which includes information of a nearby mobile device, wherein collecting the security-related information further includes detecting an accelerometer trace;
• evaluating a threat level based on the collected security-related contextual information, which involves determining whether the nearby mobile device is a known mobile device;
• invoking a security policy;
• and
• adjusting security status of the mobile device based on the threat level and the security policy.