For some time I am searching and testing the free mobile security suits for Android to try and find out which one can protect best my smartphone. I have tested Norton Mobile Security, ESET and now I have Bitdefender. But Today I will talk about the ESET Mobile Security and not because I find it the best, but because has some features which I believe are important to be mentioned.
First I have to confirm that the product is still in beta version, so yes there are bugs to be solved from time to time. However I have the feeling this will be a great security software once the final complete application is released. The ESET Mobile Security comes with: an antivirus for removal of any unwanted or harmful programs which may affect your phone, an anti-spam for SMS/MMS/Voice which is working like a black list application, an anti-theft system based on SIM card registration and SMS commands for lock, wipe or locate, a security audit feature with built-in task manager to check which of the installed applications have access to your data, a password protection for modifications including uninstall and finally an update option for downloading the latest virus signatures.
The antivirus feature scans the entire phone and the micro-SD card for for worms, trojans, viruses, spyware, spam and other attacks. More than that the protection is a proactive one with heuristics technology which means that can detect an unknown virus at that moment by recognizing it as a threat. The anti-spam module is working as a black list application and all it does is to block any SMS, MMS or calls from certain contacts or from unknown numbers as customized by user.
The security audit feature is an interesting and useful one. It shows all applications installed with report for information accessed but also has a task manager to close these. Now for the time I have tested this, not all the applications were able to be closed. But after a while I realized that this was because some programs are re-opening, so the ESET task manager may be a realistic one. Another great feature of security audit is the fact that can show a warning message for the free space needed by the OS to run properly - I was not aware that 25 MB of free space or more are required for Android to run properly. Last good thing is that security audit has a battery life and Bluetooth monitor.
The update for new virus signature did not work for the time I tested it. It was always showing the message that all definitions are up-to-date. Users can lock the settings and removal of ESET Mobile Security with a password. And as I mentioned the removal part I believe some users will be happy to check the solution below (provided by ESET customer service) if they wish to uninstall:
1.Go to Settings - Location & Security and tap the Select Device Administrators option
2. Un-check the EMS box
3. Select deactivate and confirm with OK
4. You can now remove EMS from Manage Applications as normal.
ESET Mobile Security does not require too much space - about 2.5 to 3 MB - and also does not kill many of your phone`s resources. I will get back with future reviews for Android security products.
