Trend Micro, the world's largest provider of security software for corporate servers, has announced Trend Micro Mobile Security for Android, to address "the burgeoning need for protection against cyber-attacks on Android-powered mobile devices." The software protects digital files and secures banking transactions on Android devices by identifying and stopping cybercriminals and online threats before they can attack.
The Android platform is the second largest mobile platform on the market today, so naturally, the security company was asked why it didn't target the biggest one: iOS. "Android is open-source, which means the hacker can also understand the underlying architecture and source code," Steve Chang, chairman of Trend Micro, told Businessweek. "We have to give credit to Apple, because they are very careful about it. It's impossible for certain types of viruses" to operate on the iPhone, he said.
Of course, Android's parent company has its own view of malware on the mobile OS. "On all computing devices, users necessarily entrust at least some of their information to the developer of the application they're using," a Google spokesperson said in a statement. "Android has taken steps to inform users of this trust relationship and to limit the amount of trust a user must grant to any given application developer."
Trend Micro lists four key features of Mobile Security for Android: safe surfing, parental controls (low, medium, or high filtering), download protection, as well as call and text filtering. The app uses the Trend Micro Smart Protection Network to make sure users receive instant browser protection wherever they take their Android mobile device. The call filtering feature lets the user define a list of phone numbers from which to block calls or texts.
"Trend Micro has a proven track record of being a long-time leader in the mobile security market, from protecting Windows Mobile 2003 devices to our recent Trend Smart Surfing iPhone application," Carol Carpenter, general manager of Trend Micro consumer and small business, said in a statement. "With the Android platforms rapid growth, cybercriminals will be rushing to take advantage of these mobile devices anyway they can. Trend Micro Mobile Security highlights our continuing goal of protecting our customers anytime, on any device."