Antivirus Protection for Mobile Devices and Tablets

Hackers devising viruses that attack mobile phones and tablets is a growing trend. Not only can your phone become infected with a virus just as your computer can, but hackers can sometimes even cause more damage by breaking into your mobile phone or device instead of or in addition to your computer. Mobile protection software is not exactly commonplace yet, but antivirus experts across the board say it should be now and will inevitably be downloaded on almost every phone in the near future.

Which Phones Need Mobile Protection?

First of all, let’s be clear that smartphones are the type of phones that need mobile protection. Basic cell phones with calling and voicemail functionality only are not susceptible to viruses. However, smartphones with wireless internet access are mini computers in themselves and can become infected with viruses just as any other computer can. Tablets also fall into this category.

Nonetheless, different types of smartphones offer different levels of inherent mobile protection. For instance, the iPhone runs on the iOS, a proprietary operating system created by Apple that is locked down and encrypted several times over. At this point, the iPhone is so secure that iPhone users really have nothing to worry about, although this could change in the future. However, all other types of smartphones need antivirus protection.

In particular, Android users are the most vulnerable, according to the experts. This is because the Android operating system is open source, which allows any software engineer in the world to develop applications for the Android OS. While this does a lot to propel innovation, it also leaves the door wide open to any and all hackers.

Smartphones, Tablets and Mobile Protection

Smartphones and tablets can become infected just like any other computer can, since smartphones literally are tiny computers in themselves. This means that you can get viruses from visiting phishing websites on your mobile browser, downloading questionable email attachments on your phone or in any other way you could normally get a virus on a computer.

However, smartphones also commonly become infected through file transfers. If your computer has a virus and you sync your phone with your computer to complete a file transfer, your phone could catch your computer’s virus. Your smartphone can also be infected by sharing files with other smartphones.

Hackers can do a great deal of damage by breaking into your smartphone. In addition to stealing any personal or financial data that may be on your phone, mobile spyware can steal your photos and videos. Almost all smartphones use geo-location tags on images to catalog and organize your photo library. This means hackers can see where you’ve taken photos with your phone and when, potentially allowing them to track you throughout the day.

You may or may not know if your smartphone is infected. Some viruses are capable of corrupting the key components of smartphones and locking up your device, in which case you’d know something was wrong. However, some viruses run silently in the background, secretly stealing your information and bogging down your load times, without you ever being the wiser. Mobile protection software can also detect malware on your smartphone if you run regular scans.

Mobile Protection Software

Almost all the big names in antivirus software now offer some mobile protection from viruses and malware, and many have both paid and free versions. For instance, AVG produces AVG Mobilation for Android, while top-rated antivirus software manufacturer Kaspersky makes Kaspersky Mobile Security and popular McAfee makes an Android Edition of its antivirus software. With plenty of options for antivirus software for mobile protection, there's no reason to go another day without securing your phone.

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