Mobile security software

As mobile phones become more advanced, we are using them to store important and sensitive data about ourselves and other people. Mobile phones are increasingly being threatened by viruses and theft, so just as you have security software on your computer, you should consider it for your mobile phone too.

Anti-virus Anti-virus - Protects your phone against viruses and other forms of malware. You will be alerted if a virus can enter your phone via email, Bluetooth, SMS, MMS, downloads etc.

Anti-spam Anti-spam - Blocks unwanted SMS and MMS text messages.

Anti-theft Anti-theft - Provides facilities for protecting your phone against it being stolen or misplaced.

Firewall Firewall - Protects your phone from potential network based attacks by hackers and denial-of-service attacks. Most firewalls allow you to select the security level.

Realtime protection Realtime protection - Viruses will be intercepted as soon as they try to enter or attack your mobile phone.

Internal memory protection

Memory card protection

Quarantine Quarantine - If malware is found on your phone the mobile security software will automatically move it to the quarantine area, where it cannot cause potential harm to your phone.

Blacklist Blacklist - Place annoying or harmful phone numbers on a black list to ensure that incoming calls or messages from them are blocked.

Whitelist Whitelist - Place trusted phone numbers on a white list to ensure that they are always received.

Remote block Remote block - If your phone is ever lost or stolen, then you can use the remote blocking facility. This sends an SMS text message to the phone which blocks all data. The data can then only be accessed when a password is entered.

Remote wipe Remote wipe - Deletes all the data on your phone and any memory cards by sending a specialized SMS text message.

Phone locator Phone locator - Track down your phone using GPS should your phone be lost or stolen.

SIM card removal warning SIM card removal warning - If your phone is stolen the first thing a thief will attempt to do is to replace the SIM card. If the SIM is replaced the mobile security software will send you an email with the new phone number, so you can track down the thief.

Parental controls Parental controls - View emails and text messages remotely. Some software programs also provide photo monitoring services.

File encryption File encryption - Encrypt sensitive files or folders which can only be accessed with a password.

Low resource consumption Low resource consumption - The mobile security software is designed specifically so that it won't slow down your phones overall performance and it will not drain valuable battery life.

Real-time scans Real-time scans - Applications running on your phone are scanned in real-time for up to the minute protection.

Manual scans Manual scans - Scan your phone at any time you wish.

Custom scans Custom scans - Select individual parts of your phone that you want to scan.

Schedule scans Schedule scans - Schedule virus scans to run at designated times such as on an hourly or daily basis.

Activity logs Activity logs - Log files contain a variety of information about your phone such as details about virus detection, software and signature updates.

PC updates PC updates - Synchronize updates using your PC or laptop.

Wireless updates Wireless updates - Updates can be received through a wireless connection such as WiFi or GPRS.

Automatic updates Automatic updates - Any software or virus signatures updates are sent to the phone automatically to provide up-to-the minute protection.

Direct to mobile install Direct to mobile install - Install the mobile security software without the need of a computer.

PC install

Blackberry

Google Android

Symbian OS

Windows mobile

Telephone support

Email support

Live chat

Manual

Help files

Forums

FAQs

Mobile security software explained

Good mobile security software focuses on:

• Guarding your privacy
• Limiting damage if your phone is lost or stolen
• Protecting your phone from viruses

Although mobile phone viruses are currently rare, don’t disregard virus protection. These threats are likely to grow as mobile phones become more sophisticated.

Anti-theft measures

The anti-theft measures of mobile security software probably won’t stop your phone getting stolen, but can minimize the resulting damage. Mobile security software can encrypt the data on your phone – including text messages, photographs and emails. This makes sure that thieves can’t access the data on your phone.

Pay less attention to gimmicky ‘locate your phone’ tools. These use satellite navigation to alert you to your phone’s location over the internet. It sounds great in theory, but in practice are you really going to find and confront the thief?

Much more useful are functions that wipe your phone if it falls into the wrong hands. Some act automatically if your SIM card is replaced by another. Others enable you to connect to the phone over the internet and instruct it to wipe everything.

Guarding your privacy

If you value your privacy, look for mobile security software that filters unwanted calls. You should be able to set up a ‘blacklist’ of unwanted numbers, and a ‘white list’ of callers who are allowed through.

Spam protection is also useful if you use email on your phone. Your mobile is likely to have less built-in spam protection than your computer, so junk email could be more of a problem.

Security software can also hide selected contacts, ensuring no trace of them appears in your phone book, call logs or other areas. It’s great if you’re paranoid about people who borrow your phone, or simply want to keep some contacts private.

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