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M1 offers quick always-on malware alert

This article is more than 12 months old

If malware strikes your smartphone, would you be aware of it?

From today, a new service by M1, a first by a local telco, promises to alert customers within 30 seconds of malware infecting their phones.

For $2 a month, the service, called Mobile Guard, aims to give the telco's 1.2 million mobile postpaid subscribers peace of mind when surfing or downloading apps from the Web.

Mr Alex Tan, M1's chief innovation officer, said it provides "always on" malware protection at the network level.

Telcos typically offer an anti-malware app that must be downloaded on the phone.

Users also need to click on the app to update the virus signatures, perform scans to detect any hidden malware and clean the phone of any infection.

"But would users run it daily, weekly or monthly? By the time malware is found, it would have lingered in the phone for days and done harm," Mr Tan said.

M1's service eliminates users' hassle by monitoring threats at the network level.

According to the latest Nokia Threat Intelligence Report, an average of 1 per cent of more than 100 million Web-connected devices worldwide were infected monthly last year. Most of the infected mobile devices were Android smartphones.

- THE STRAITS TIMES

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