It seems odd to be reporting on mobile Internet Security after this morning reading about how Google is addressing malicious Apps on Android, but Trend Micro has just unveiled two new mobile security solutions for Android (and iOS) devices that they believe will help mitigate threats to devices from cyber attacks.
There is of course great value in Google advertising how secure that Android is, but on the flip side there’s just as much value in security companies advertising insecurities within Android (and iOS). Trend Micro has released their 2013 Mobile Threat Report which advises that they detected ‘1.3 million malicious and high-risk Android apps’, a massive increase over the 350,000 apparently found in 2012.
With that kind of increase, Tim Falinski, Director, Consumer, A/NZ, Trend Micro says
With PC shipments decreasing and mobile device sales soaring, 2013 saw a sizeable increase in volume, intensity and sophistication of mobile threats. About 60 percent of Australians own smartphones and use them to access everything from Facebook to their bank accounts. In 2014 we will see mobile become the attack vector of choice for cyber criminals, which means keeping smartphones – and therefore personal identity – secure against mobile threats is more critical than ever.
Now, to the nuts and bolts. The two products that Trend Micro are offering are Trend Micro Mobile Security and Mobile App Reputation, both as part of their Mobile Security software:
To get access to the products you can purchase the Trend Micro Mobile Security via in-app purchase after installing the App from Google Play.
Note: Trend Micro says the Google Play Service for completing the purchase is down and recommends you acquire an activation key from a retailer or online instead. That said, I was able to complete In-App Purchases and an App upgrade to pro on other Apps with no issues.
Trend Micro has the product keys available as retail packages from Harvey Norman, JB Hi Fi, Dick Smith as well as other software retailers where you can purchase the product for Android for AU$29.95. If you really want it and can’t get to a retailer, Trend Micro has it available on their website. You can also purchase the Trend Micro Maximum Security suite, which includes Trend Micro Mobile Security, from AU$69.95.
Whether you use security scanning software or not is a very controversial issue. There’s strong feelings on both sides of the issue, some feel “better safe than sorry” while others see companies offering the software as predatory and preying on less tech savvy users. Bear this in mind when you go to comment 😉
Funny enough i am an IT tech and i use this on my phone. The only reason being i use trend on my PC’s at home and with the security addition you get 5 users license including Phones. Well worth the $99 a year in my opinion. It works fairly well with no drain on battery or annoying pops ups. The report of “malicious” apps is definitely false with well known apps getting “suspicious” reports as their permissions can cause damage. Although any decent app will find it hard to not get this label. Overall im in the “better safe… Read more »
Let the facts speak for themselves. Your quote in the previous article was a malicious attack rate of 0.001% of app installations were malicious and could penetrate Googles defences and cause harm to users. Not an epidemic just yet.
This also does not correlate well with the 1.3m malicious and high risk apps above. First 1.3m sounds high relative to the number of apps in the marketplace. Perhaps high risk is defined loosely as apps requiring permissions they don’t need
Good old scare mongering. What is a security app in locked down sandpit environment going to do to defend users that Google is not already doing (and with greater control and access to your phone)? Tell you that the gate is open after the horse has bolted?
A bit of a costly option…
Did you guys stop covering free apps for the day?
Not stopped – my son has been home sick for the last week, i’ll be starting again tomorrow. Sorry ’bout that.
My apologies. I hope he gets well soon!