Does Your Smartphone Need Antivirus Protection?

I have been asked about smartphone protection. Since I am not very familiar with smartphones nor do I own one, I had to do a little research. The following is an article posted at: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,515583,00.html.

I hope it is helpful and answers some of your questions.



Q: I know my home PC needs antivirus and anti-spyware programs and a firewall to surf the Internet somewhat safely. I've just gotten my first smartphone, so I have to ask: How does one surf the Internet on this phone and not catch any viruses? Or are there programs out there to protect my phone?



A: Opinion is mixed among security experts — including the ones who, just a few short years ago, were predicting real problems for mobile devices. By and large, the threat has failed to materialize, as of yet.



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Not that there aren't examples in the wild, including the recent WINCE_CRYPTIC.A worm, which targets Windows-based smartphones. But such viruses are currently as rare as malware for the Mac.



That may be changing, however, according to Denise Culver, a research analyst with Unstrung Insider.

She writes: "Mobile malware security vendors are preparing for wide-scale attacks by hackers — attacks that eventually will be as headline-grabbing as those that hit e-mail systems. Their hope is that smartphone manufacturers, carriers, and enterprises — not to mention smartphone users — will not wait until the threats have reached that level before securing their mobile systems."

Among my favorite boyhood memories are trips to the North Fork of the Snake River on the opening day of fishing season in Idaho.

In addition to the beautiful scenery and the exhilarating raft ride, there was the great fishing. The trout practically jumped into the boat!

In other words, they were plentiful and easy to catch.

The same concept applies to authors of malware: They prefer targets which are plentiful and easy to attack.



The Windows operating system (in its various versions) is certainly plentiful. It's also easy to attack, as proven by tens of thousands of malware examples.

In other words, Windows systems are "ubiquitous and attractive." To those who are not talented enough to be professional programmers and have to resort to writing malicious code to get their programming jollies, Windows is currently the target of choice.

When Windows Mobile — or Apple iPhone, or Google Android — devices become "ubiquitous and attractive," they, too, will become targets for malware. Be prepared.