Do I Need An Antivirus On My Mobile Phone?
The short answer is, yes, you do. Mobile phones are the device that is the most widely used in the world. This means that it can be the most vulnerable. It’s important to have high-functioning antivirus security apps and tools installed on your mobile phone to fend off predators that may target your device.
Malware can infect your device via fake or harmful apps. These apps are often disguised in the app store or sneak into third-party apps without you knowing.
Operating System updates are critical in fixing bugs or other vulnerabilities and close any entry points to cyberattackers. So, if there are any delays in finding and updating security issues, your device can be in danger. For this reason, you must install an antivirus that can quickly detect issues and protect your data on your mobile phone.
How Do Antivirus Apps On Mobile Work?
As mentioned before, it is important to have an antivirus app on your mobile device. The question is, do you know how they work on your mobile device?
Well, the primary role of these antivirus apps is to scan other apps on your mobile device to make sure that they are safe to use and that they do not contain any malicious data or viruses.
After the apps are scanned, the antivirus software will verify their status against a list of known compromised apps. The antivirus app will also search your mobile device for “rooted” devices, where unauthorized users have accessed information to data on your mobile device. Most antivirus apps will let you know when any suspicious activity took place on your device.
How To Choose A Good Antivirus For Mobile?
When choosing good antivirus software for your mobile device, there are a few features you would always like it to have. These features will increase your device security and keep your data and apps safe.
Features you should look at:
- Anti-phishing: Sniffs out dodgy-looking links that are designed to infect devices or steal your personal data.
- App lock: This lets you protect certain apps and settings with a password.
- Backup: Preserves your personal information by saving it online using cloud- storage, as well as on your device.
- Call/SMS blocking: Filters and blocks unwanted calls and text messages.
- Parental controls: This lets you prevent access to certain types of content.
- Privacy adviser: Scans and checks any apps you try to download, telling you which ones are asking for more access than they should.
- Remote lock: Locks down your device remotely via a web browser interface, preventing unauthorized access.
- Remote photo: Helps identify unauthorized users of your phone by taking their photo and sending it to you via email. Some apps take snaps through the device's camera and email them to you when a password is entered incorrectly a few times.
- Remote wipe: Preserves your privacy by enabling you to wipe all data on your tablet.
- Safe browsing mode: Checks webpages in real-time, as you’re browsing the web, keeping you protected when you click on links or every time you type in a web address.
- SIM lock: Stops others from using your mobile device by locking it down when the SIM card is removed.
- Tune-up: Optimises battery, data, and storage use by identifying apps that use too much battery life or slow down your device’s performance.
- Uninstall protection: Prevents thieves from bypassing the mobile security app and wiping any device data and apps. A password is required to delete any app.
