Although there have been increasing incidences of virus attacks on mobile phones, surprisingly, it has not spurred people into installing anti-virus software on their handsets.
This contrasts with the figures for anti-virus installations on personal computers. “One reason why people avoid installing anti-virus on mobiles is because they think it is too complex,” said Kailash Ketkar, Managing Director and CEO, Quick Heal Technologies, an anti-virus solution provider.
While installing anti-virus software on a mobile phone is rocket science for some, security software also eat up considerable memory space and in case of processor-strapped mobile phones, it slows down the system.
Recognising the general preference of customers to run anti-virus software on personal computers (PCs), Quick Heal has come up with a security suite that allows scanning of a mobile phone from a PC. It consists of anti-virus, anti-malware, data theft protector, firewall and PC tuner. A user has to connect their handset(s) to a PC using Bluetooth or data cable, and scan their mobile phones for malware.
“Conventional anti-virus software scans storage memory. Our software would scan the whole mobile phone, from storage memory to operating system and system files,” said Mr. Ketkar. The suite supports an exhaustive list of mobile phones, more than 581 models from different handset makers like Sony Ericsson, Apple, Blackberry, Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG, HTC etc. “You don't need to get into the hassles of installing anti-virus software each time you purchase a new mobile phone,” pointed out the company's vice-president (sales and marketing), Abhijit Jorvekar.
