Sophos on Monday officially launched Sophos Mobile Security, a free mobile security solution designed to protect Android devices against malware, privacy issues and lost hardware.
With minimal impact on device performance or battery life, Sophos says the solution makes use of near real-time intelligence from its network of threat intelligence centers and automatically scans apps as users attempt to install them, and blocks potentially dangerous apps and malicious code. Sophos Mobile Security also helps locate lost or stolen Android devices and provides a remote lock to help lock down and protect data in the event a mobile device is lost of left behind.
In its 2011 Mobile Threats Report, Juniper Networks said there was a 155 percent increase in mobile malware across all mobile platforms in 2011, and a whopping 3,325 percent increase in malware specifically targeting the Android platform in the last seven months of 2011 alone.
“We’re seeing no slowdown in the number of malicious apps, as more smartphone owners use their devices to not only store personal data, but also access social networks and the Internet,” said Matthias Pankert, vice president, product management, Sophos. “Android users must be vigilant as the number of threats continues its rapid ascent…”
The company said that later this year it will offer a managed Enterprise version of Sophos Mobile Security that will come with enhanced functionality and provide better protection for corporate devices and data.
Sophos Mobile Security is available from Google Play here.