Smart Phones and Security - Any Good Products Out There?

[kjv1611]

Here's one article about security on PCWorld:

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscent...e_security_how_to_keep_your_handset_safe.html

I realize there are different OSes for smart phones, and no one of them dominates as much of the market as much as Windows does on the desktop PC.. But where to start?

I currently have an old Blackberry, not data-connected in any way. However, I've been pondering making the jump to a smartphone. Mostly just for the fun of it, b/c I really like the idea of having a pocket-sized PC, like the old Windows Mobile / Windows Pocket PC setups (such as the Dell Axim) that faded into oblivion. Still have an old Dell Axim X3. I guess it still works, last time, it worked, but battery died pretty quickly. That was probably 2+ years ago.

So, on with smart phones. The main thing keeping me back so far has been price for plans. That has been coming down, slowly.. maybe... so it seems, anyway.. It looks like there is a way to get a $50 per phone setup on T-Mobile for "unlimited" everything.. or so it says.. Currently I'm on Sprint. And when I asked around in one of their stores, they said it'd end up costing me $160+!!! That's about $100 more than what we're paying now - 2 phones, decent minutes, 7pm evenings, etc.. I have heard from another Sprint customer of supposedly an unlimited everything plan for 2 phones at $129.99, but that's still double what I'm paying now...

Anyway... for security. It's been in the news a few times of late that smartphone security holes are popping up all over the place. So, I'd hate to get into that area, only to get infested with some virus or whatnot.

Are there any fail-proof methods for any of the OSes out there, or anything of the like that would go across all of the OSes? Also, are there any good apps (free or paid) that do well enough without bringing a smartphone to its knees... or should I say... "to its knuckles"?

If I make the jump, personally, in the near future, it won't before late January, or possibly next Spring.

Thanks for any thoughts/ideas on this general question.

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57

 

[kjv1611]

On the same topic, this site might be worth reading:

http://www.cs.ucsb.edu/~seclab/projects/smartphones/

"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57

 

[kjv1611]

Hmm... it might still have some decent referable info, but now that I think about it... that last link is probably a bit outdated already... man this stuff changes fast..


"But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57

 

[vacunita]

I still have my Dell Axim as well, though now its relegated to a drawer. But it works.

Anyway, in terms of smartphones, As long as you aren't browsing things you shouldn't be browsing, or installing apps for dodgy sources. Take the same precautions you would on a PC.

Android seems to be the most vulnerable since its the most open to user modifications and allows for installation of Apps without any shall we say supervision required.

Iphone, and Windows phones are pretty closed down. Requiring the app to be signed and distributed from their stores. Yes you can jailbreak an iPhone and install un certified apps but that's at your own risk.

There are several Anti Virus apps for Android on the Android Market including AVG and Kaspersky.




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Phil AKA Vacunita
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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Web & Tech

 

[vacunita]

I've been using smartphones for a while now. My first one was a Sony Ericsson P900i. Right now I have a Nokia Expressmusic 5530 and have had no issues with malware or security problems.

I'm looking to upgrade to an HTC Titan Windows Phoen 7.5 Mango. For the 8MP camera. Though the Hard drive is a bit of a let down at only 16GB and no mem card slot for added space.

I'm hoping HTC decides to make a Titan with a mem card slot.

----------------------------------
Phil AKA Vacunita
----------------------------------
Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

Web & Tech

 

[rclarke250]

I have a Motorola Photon 4G on sprint, as does my wife, Android 2.3. And we use Lockout for malware,and virus protection. Not really been an issue, but I would rather have it and not need it, then need it and not have it. Plus they have a free version from the marketplace, so a no brainer to just add it and let it update when it wants. And yes, the sprint price for 2 phones is 129.99 for everything, that is what we have, but the high end phones have an extra 10$ a month data cost per phone, so that goes up to 149.99. But I get a discount from work of 25% that saves me a bit.

 

[GLComputing]

If security is your main concern ... Blackberry is still the leader.

Security and email are the only two real areas that they are still well ahead.... some other less important ones also.

Regards,
Mike Lazarus
ACT! Evangelist
GL Computing, Aust

http://www.GLComputing.com.au

http://blog.glcomputing.com.au

Join the LinkedIN ACT! Fanatics Group

http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/49896

 

[GLComputing]

BTW: this is a comparison I did Blackberry Vs iPhone
It's a bit old... but still "mostly" valid. I plan to update it with current OS, Android and (maybe) Mango in the new year

http://blog.glcomputing.com.au/2010/02/why-i-prefer-blackberry-over-iphone-for.html

Regards,
Mike Lazarus
ACT! Evangelist
GL Computing, Aust

http://www.GLComputing.com.au

http://blog.glcomputing.com.au

Join the LinkedIN ACT! Fanatics Group

http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/49896