Norton Mobile Security for Android

With fear of malware glooming over mobile operating systems, Symantec feels that there’s a need for security solutions for mobile devices. Norton Mobile Security is a security suite of sorts for Android devices. 

Ease of use

Norton Mobile Security is extremely easy to use. We tried accessing the software through the Android market on our phones, but it didn’t seem to work. The simpler way is to download it using the link provided in the package.

Simple user interface

The download is an APK file that installs without any issues whatsoever. Installation takes under a minute. Start the app and you’re asked to register the software. The software is available as a 1-year subscription.

Features

The software’s menu is subdivided into four major features - Anti-theft, Anti-malware, Call/SMS Blocking and Web Protection. The Anti-Theft feature allows you to set a password and set upto 5 friends to be added to the list. This allows you to locate the phone, lock it or even wipe all data from the phone, should it be stolen. Setting up this feature is extremely simple. The anti-malware is similar to the one seen on Symantec’s desktop products. It scans the phone as well as the memory card for any kind of malware. We were able to scan a phone with an 8GB memory stick in no more than two minutes. Scans can be scheduled everyday, every month or week. There’s no provision to set a particular time or date though.

Call and SMS blocking

The call and SMS blocking feature is pretty self explanatory. It’s simple to use and lets you create groups of numbers that you can choose to block. This is particularly handy for spam SMS’ and phone calls. Choosing numbers is simple too. You can choose to view call logs, SMS logs and even contact lists and choose the numbers you’d like to block. The Web protection feature only works on the Android browser though. Opera and any third-party browsers will stay unblocked, which makes the feature somewhat pointless. 

Performance

We noticed no slowdown on the device with the app installed. Startup times didn’t change either. Scanning for malware on a phone with 8GB of data in the phone hardly took a minute. We noticed no sluggish performance while using the device either. For a phone that has seen a lot of apps installed and a ton of data transfers, we found no malware whatsoever.

Verdict

The Norton Mobile Security app is a great idea and practically, it would make good sense. As of today however, the amount of malware on Android is still negligible. As far as the call and SMS blocking features go, there are plenty apps that let you do that.

A security solution for your phone

The solution sells in retail for Rs. 599, which isn’t a whole lot of money. The phone's anti-theft feature is nifty and anyone who has spent on a decent smartphone will want this. If you are particular about security of your data on all computing devices, this is a small investment.