The new product is included in the McAfee’s triple play offer and can be downloaded from http://us.mcafee.com. It is also offered free with McAfee total protection and McAfee internet security suite.
Viruses can affect mobile through message attachments, application downloads, Bluetooth communication and PC synchronization. According to McAfee, it guards against threats and protects the device at entry points, including SMS, MMS and e-mail. It automatically scans incoming and outgoing data for malicious code and monitors mobile data and files. It also accesses McAfee’s Avert Labs for the protection updates.
While not yet widespread, McAfee Avert Labs has identified 450 different mobile threat variants, including viruses and spyware that can threaten devices and personal information, said Todd Gebhart, senior vice president and general manager at McAfee
Currently, there are more than 350 mobile viruses and threats for handsets. As a result, the customers of more than 80% of mobile operators have been affected by threats.
Some recent mobile threats include viruses like Duts and Xrove. Duts attaches its viral code to executable files and spreads within a Windows Mobile device, while Xrove uses PC synchronization for infecting a Windows Mobile device.
The current version of VirusScan Mobile supports Microsoft Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone and Windows Mobile 6 Standard Edition devices.
Other security software companies have also launched products for mobile security. McAfee’s competitor AVG launched the beta version of its Mobile Security Software for Symbian UIQ 3.0 platform mobile phones in June 2007, while Symantec launched the Mobile Security Suite 5.0 for Windows Mobile smartphones and PDAs in March 2007.
Source: ComputerWire daily updates
