(6 votes, 2.33 / 5
Loading...Smartphones and tablets need high-quality antivirus protection at least as much as regular computers do. Fortunately, there is now a wide range of antivirus products available on the market. Choice is good, but it can also be confusing. With that in mind, here are seven important points to look for in a high-quality antivirus app.
A reputable developer
You absolutely must choose an antivirus product created by a reputable developer. You may not recognize all the brand names there are, but you can check whether a developer has their own website (and what sort of state it’s in), where they are based and, if at all possible, how many employees they have (at least roughly) and how long they have been in business (likewise, at least roughly). To be perfectly blunt, you need to be able to trust the company you are entrusting with the protection of your mobile device.
A sensible pricing structure
Security is one of the most demanding business structures there is. Threats are developing all the time and products need to be updated to meet them. This costs money and ultimately that money has to come from end-users in one way or another.
The standard pricing model is for there to be an entry-level product provided for free, either for a limited time or supported by revenue from adverts, so that users can try out the product before they decide whether or not to commit to a purchase. In the latter case, however, the functionality of the product will, typically, be restricted to what can be justified by the ad revenue it generates and that is usually very little.
Basically, you should expect to pay something for a high-quality antivirus app in the same way as you’d expect to pay something for any other high-quality product or service. Your money not only funds the research and development which has gone into the product, it’s funding the ongoing research and development needed to keep the product up-to-date (read useful) plus support for those who need it.
Regular updates
Per the previous comments, high-quality antivirus apps need to be updated regularly to keep on top of changing threats. Apps without regular updates are arguably even worse than useless because they can make device owners believe that they are protected when in fact they are not.
Seamless integration with your device
A high-quality antivirus app should just run, quietly, in the background unless it is actively alerting you to something. Obviously any and every app you run will have some impact on battery life and need some level of resources, e.g. processing power, memory and storage, but these should be minimal.
Anti-phishing tools
A high-quality antivirus app will do more than just scan for threats which have made their way onto your device. It will try to stop you from taking dangerous actions in the first place. A good antivirus software will alert you to when you are going to visit a questionable site, even if this was recommended by a search engine. It will also warn you if you appear to be on the point of entering personal details into an untrustworthy site.
Spam prevention
In the context of mobile devices, spam can mean either unsolicited emails or unsolicited calls and texts. All can be dangerous and for similar reasons. The first reason is that these communications can be a way of introducing malware into your phone. The second reason is that they can be a social-engineering tool.
One important point to understand is that both email addresses and caller IDs can be faked (this is known as spoofing). The idea behind spoofing is that busy people will just glance at a communication, see the purported sender and trust it. A high-quality antivirus app, by contrast, is always on the alert.
Permission protection
If an unauthorized person gets access to your mobile device without you knowing about it, you want to make it as hard as possible for them to change any meaningful settings and, in particular, you want to make it extremely difficult for them just to uninstall the antivirus app which is at the heart of your device’s security. A high-quality antivirus app will make it possible for you to set up extra layers of authentication for certain app permissions. Please remember, however, that this protection is only as good as the password you use, so remember to follow the usual guidelines about choosing a strong password with a mixture of upper-case and lower-case letters, numbers and punctuation.
Comodo antivirus for Android offers high-quality protection at an outstanding price
Comodo antivirus for Android offers robust protection without compromising your device’s performance. In fact, it can help you to optimize your system settings so that your device runs at its absolute best, it also backs up your key data and keeps it safe from thieves. Get it now direct from Comodo.
