With more and more people downloading more and more data on their mobile devices, the risk of a security breach becomes more likely. Thus, AT&T has announced it will begin offering a security service — for a price — aimed at preventing such hacks.

AT&T already sells a service like this to its business customers but it hasn’t gone into the consumer market because of users’ reluctance to pay for such protections. The company is banking that wireless subscribers will soon be at the point where they are afraid enough to pay for things like anti-virus protection.

“When you start asking them what’s your willingness to pay for a solution, if they’re not a little frightened, their willingness to pay is nothing,” an AT&T exec tells Reuters. “It’ll take a little time for this in the mass market.”

The company plans to start selling the service some time in 2012.

AT&T plans consumer security service for 2012 [Reuters]

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