McAfee broadens Android security platform
Intel's security division tracks behaviour of apps to alert users to possible privacy issues
Published: 31 January, 2012
Intel's McAfee acquisition is likely to evolve into a key element of the chipmaker's mobile strategy, supporting new functionality and chip-level security in future platforms. The unit is already stepping up its smartphone activities, and has released Mobile Security 2.0, which takes Android users beyond antivirus protection.
The upgrade also addresses applications and the vulnerabilities created by the free-for-all nature of Android and its Market. A new feature of release 2.0 is App Alert, which provides information about what apps are doing with users' personal data. It checks whether a program will need to access contacts and other data, and will warn the user. Otherwise, consumers have to trawl through Android Market's information about the app functionality, which is not always a simple process.
A future version will also be able to check the reputation of the app developer, according to McAfee, and in this release, it has also added call and SMS filtering for blocking unwanted communications. The software scans and cleans malicious code from files, memory cards, apps, text messages and attachments.
Access to data and the SIM card can be locked remotely if a handset is lost or stolen, or data can be wiped completely after making a back-up.
McAfee Mobile Security 2.0 is also available for BlackBerry OS and Symbian, but these users do not gain App Alert . However, not only is Android the biggest platform, but it is the one which has sparked the greatest concerns about personal data privacy and other aspects of security.
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