Lookout Premium brings Advanced Privacy and Security Features to Android Devices
Lookout Mobile Security, a provider of smartphone security software, today announced a premium (aka Paid) version of its security and privacy protection product for Android smartphones.
The product, “Lookout Premium,” is designed to help protect against malware & spyware, data loss and device loss. Lookout Premium provides added security and privacy capabilities for comprehensive smartphone protection. Priced at $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year, Lookout Premium includes a new Privacy Advisor, Remote Wipe and Remote Lock features, Enhanced Backup & Restore features as well as tools to help transfer data to a new device. The premium product will be available on November 16th, 2010 with a free 30 day trial.
The “Privacy Advisor” component of Lookout Premium helps users manage which applications can access their private data on their mobile device. With Privacy Advisor, users can scan every app they download and quickly view a comprehensive list of apps that can access their private data, such as identity information, location, and messages. Additionally, consumers can view detailed app reports on the capabilities of these applications on their phone. Privacy Advisor empowers users to make informed decisions about what apps to download and gain more control of their personal data.
Lookout says that on average, users have 31 apps on their phones that can access their identity information, 19 apps that access their location and five apps that access their SMS and MMS messages. This high usage of data on the phone contrasts with consumers’ lack of awareness of what information is being accessed. In July, Lookout announced company announced “The App Genome Project,” an ongoing effort to map and study mobile applications, created to identify security threats in the wild and provide insight into how applications are accessing personal data, as well as other phone resources.”
With the rapid adoption of smartphones, concerns about security and privacy of data on the phone are increasing. Consumers realize that they have an extensive amount of private information on their phone including their identity information, location, personal data and messages.
“Smartphones are cheaper, more available, and more useful than ever, and today’s smartphone users treat their devices like computers, storing sensitive personal information, making purchases, and even doing online banking,” said Jeff Wilson, principal analyst for security at Infonetics Research. “Users need to be aware of the personal information stored on their phone and the risks associated with treating a smartphone like a computer. They also need to know that there are security solutions for their smartphones available today.”