MANILA, Phillipines — Soon, corporate buyers of Samsung’s Android-based smartphones could be assured that their units will be virus-free as it will come packed with an antivirus software provided by Russian IT security provider Kaspersky Lab.
The antivirus protection comes under a new partnership between the two global IT brands as Kaspersky becomes a Golden Member of the Samsung Enterprises Alliance Program, designed to provide differentiated benefits to users.
The partnership also comes at a time when the need to arrest the rise of malware on Android phones is at an all-time high. Juniper Networks estimated that the number of Android malware jumped 3,325 percent to 13,302 samples during the last six months of 2011.
Under the program, corporate customers of Samsung mobile products could opt to be protected with Kaspersky Mobile Security and Kaspersky Tablet Security, two products which have yet to be made available in the Southeast Asian region.
Apart from virus protection, the two mobile apps will protect users against unwanted calls and messages, privacy violations and data loss or theft–a security issue of particular importance to businesses.
“[The demand for Internet-enabled devices] has been noticed by cybercriminals who continue to target people for their confidential information, especially among corporate users whose information are stored in their smartphones and tablet PCs,” noted Suk Ling Gun, Kaspersky Lab’s corporate sales director for the APAC region.
Gun said that the partnership with Samsung allows them to “educate people on the risks of cybercrime,” highlighting how it could also strengthen the security software firm’s foothold in the Philippines.
“The Philippines will be an important market for Android-based devices in the coming years and we see more growth as we work with Samsung Electronics,” she added.
According to Google, the developer of the Android mobile operating system, an estimated 850,000 Android devices are activated every day, which means millions of users are potentially exposed to security holes on the platform.
Korean brand Samsung is currently the dominant provider of Android-powered smartphones around the world. Kaspersky, on the other hand, is among the top security software vendors in the world.
source: interaksyon.com
