Windows Mobile Antivirus
The growing popularity of smartphones and PDA’s powered by Windows Mobile has led to a similarly growing number of trojans, viruses and other forms of malware.
Fortunately, there are also a number of Windows Mobile Antivirus solutions available. In this guide, we look at what you should expect from an antivirus solution for Windows Mobile devices, and we detail some of the best performing products.
Before you dismiss the need for Windows Mobile Antivirus protection, you should be aware that there are viruses circulating that, much like a PC virus, can destroy or steal data on your device, make it unusable, or in the case of some smartphone viruses, steal your phone credit. As you will probably have paid as much for your portable device as you would for a normal PC, you should employ the same protective antivirus and anti spyware steps.
So what do you want from Windows Mobile Antivirus?
You want it to be light
When it comes to mobile computing you do want the diet version that will not take up too much processing power. The difference between mobile devices and desktop PCs (apart from portability!) is largely one of power and speed of operation, which means that your mobile anti-virus product should be as low on resource requirements as possible otherwise the other functions, the ones you really want to be working with, like the camera, the phone, the games, will noticeably slow down.
It needs to be easy to install and easy to operate
In fact it should be so easy that you can download and install to your device without problems and then remain confident that it is working in the background day in and day out. The good news is that most products do just that. Part of this should include real time antivirus scanning, so that you know your device is always protected.
Your Windows Mobile Antivirus software should update automatically
You will see that most products have OTA updates, or Over The Air. This means that they will connect to the vendors internet site and download the latest virus databases without you having to do anything, so your device always has the latest antivirus information.
It should be Compatible with your device.
This sounds an obvious one, but there are so many windows mobile and other smartphone devices around that you should carefully check that the antivirus product you go for works with your device. Many manufacturers have a trial option that lets you test the features and compatibility before you buy, and we have a list of these on this site.
There are other security features that are now finding their way into Mobile Antivirus products including Mobile Firewalls, and remote locking to enable you to send a text message to your Windows Mobile Phone and lock the device or remotely delete the data, both useful if your phone is stolen and you need to protect your confidential information from prying eyes. It is these additional features that we feel makes a good product a great product and why we rate these as the top Windows Mobile Antivirus solutions.