Choosing the right smartphone antivirus

Like their counterparts for PC, antivirus for smartphones are not content to protect phones and tablets from malicious codes designed by pirates.They turn out to be real Swiss knives supposed to offer complete protection against all kinds of threats.

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Their main features

Antivirus

He compares in real time the downloaded applications, the SMS and MMS received, the E-mail attachments and the websites visited with a database update by the publisher.When he spots a malicious code, he blocks it or alerts the user.If performance vary from one solution to another, none is capable of detecting 100 % of threats.

Detection of phishing sites (phishing)

It is supposed to block from the smartphone access to fraudulent sites which take up the aspect of banque sites, telephone operators, administrative services or other to collect personal data and bank details.Unfortunately, our tests show that the effectiveness of this antiphling protection is rarely there.

Protection against sites hosting malicious files

It allows, in theory, to prevent the connection to a site hosting malicious files or verolled applications.Again, efficiency is rarely there.

The antitheft (or antitheft) function

This is certainly the most interesting function.In the event of theft or loss of the phone, you can, thanks to it, visualize its location on a card a few meters, lock it remotely or even delete the data it contains.With some antivirus, you can also take a photo (with a little luck, you will manage to capture the thief's face) and even make a message appear on the screen.These commands are generally carried out from the publisher's web interface, and sometimes also by SMS.Ideal for dialogue with the phone even when it is not connected to the Internet (it must however capture the network).Be careful however because certain anti -theft functions only locate the phone if its GPS has been previously activated, does not erase 100 % of the data remotely or find their default settings as soon as the battery and the SIM card are removed and discounts.

Deinstallation protection

To be effective, the application should not be able to be deactivated or deleted by a third party.The best solutions require an administrator code and/or a password to delete the application or modify the settings.But not all of them take this pain.

Paying the test

The license of an antivirus for smartphones costs between 8 and 30 € per year, which is not negligible.So, to get an idea of its usefulness before paying, it is advisable to take advantage of the trial period that most publishers offer.It allows you to test in real conditions the full version of the antivirus for a limited time (generally 15 or 30 days) before buying it.

The free may be enough

Most publishers also offer a free version of their antivirus.But beware, because not all of them are.While some incorporate the most useful functions such as threat detection as well as locking and erasure of remote data, others are clearly insufficient to be effective.Also pay attention to free antivirus only during a limited period (generally 15 to 30 days).

Preinstalled features

Whatever the brand, most smartphones already incorporate location functions.With smartphones running Android, for example, it is possible, from Android page.com/DeviceManager, to locate your phone, to lock it remotely, to make it ring and even display a number on the screen thanks to which the holder can reach you. Il faut toutefois avoir au préalable activé les fonctionnalités « à distance » dans le menu Réglages > Sécurité du téléphone.Be careful however because this geolocation only works if the GPS is activated and if the device is on, with an active SIM card, and connected to the Internet.

The precautions to be taken to limit the risks

Whether or not you have installed antivirus software on your smartphone, follow these few advice on caution will allow you to considerably limit the risk of infection:

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Cyril Brosset

cyrilbrosset