avast! Mobile Security for Android with Free Antivirus and Anti-theft Features

Since devices using the Android operating system are becoming increasingly popular, the risk of viruses is also increasing in this open source platform. Smart is he who protects his smartphone or tablet from harmful invaders. Avast! Antivirus is one of the best known anti-virus programs for the PC. Avast! Mobile Security also features the Android Smartphone Protection which combines virus protection with an anti-theft feature and an additional firewall for rooted devices.

Installation

During installation avast! Mobile Security requires Access to:

• Paid services: dial a phone number directly
• News: Read SMS or MMS / edit / receive, view network state, retrieve data from the Internet
• Network communication: full Internet access
• Personal data: read sensitive log data, write contact data read / read Browser’s history and bookmarks
• Phone calls: read phone state and identify, intercept outgoing calls modify phone state
• Memory contents of the USB memory and the SD card, delete / modify
• System tools: modify global system settings, standby mode, the tablet / phone off, kill background processes, automatically start at boot, determine the space app
• Hardware controls: control vibrator
• Standard: recourse to download manager

During the installation of avast! Mobile Security, there is also an option to install avast! Anti-Theft and integrate it with the security app.

Features

Avast! Mobile Security for android allows instant virus scan of apps and memory card, and automatic scans on certain days and times. Who can even remember what permissions were allocated to each app during the installation?In menu item “Privacy” is a list of installed applications with the appropriate access rights and possible privacy issues.

App Manager and Web Shield
You can use App Manager to close applications and view their system information. A Web Shield protects against risks during the display of web pages.

SMS , incoming calls and outgoing calls can be barred on certain days and times by using filtering settings. Here filter groups can be created and assigned to specific contacts to set the rules . A firewall, avast! Mobile Security is on board – this is only available on devices with root privileges.

Anti-Theft
If you lost the Android smartphone or tablet then Anti-Theft can used.  This feature can control what to do in case of an unauthorized SIM card change: for instance, lock the phone, switch on the siren, enforcing data connections, disabling USB debugging, or the Program Manager.

For this, you have to set a password and specify at least one phone number to which an automatic SMS notification is sent by the stolen mobile phone.

Remote control via SMS
Mobile phone with authorized number can send SMS commands to the lost phone and remotely control it. When Anti-Theft is activated, it hides in the Android program menu and therefore can not be disbaled.

Anti-Theft also provides android phones with some additional features such as automatic GPS activation or saving current settings when you reset the phone to factory settings.

Operability

Avast! Mobile Security is very well structured and can be operated without extensive training. Everything is at the desired place. Most settings can be done directly via the display.

During the test period we determined no significant increase in battery consumption by the application.
Avast! updates the virus database automatically either via Wi-Fi, 2G or 3G connection.

Conclusion

Avast! Mobile Security has everything onboard, what the heart desires of the security-conscious Android owner.It has not only a well-functioning virus scanner, but also an application manager, theft protection, SMS and call filter and a firewall, all for free.

It was tested on the LG Optimus Black P970 with Android 2.3.4, the comprehensive yet clearly designed application ran smoothly.