Antivirus, Anti-Spyware and Defrag software for SmartPhones?

[Guest]

Hello

1. Is there any antivirus software for SmartPhones? Specifically the Orange E200.

I wouldn't want to run Auto-Protect software as I'd imagine it running all the time will eat up to many resources from the phone but a virus checker you could run once a week or so could be useful.

I've read basic viruses are out for the PDA, what about the SmartPhone? Even a basic virus is still a virus.

2. I was also thinking PC hard disks (and I presume Apple Mac hard disks) become fragmented, is there any defragmentation software available?

Is it needed?

3. And lastly what about Anti-Spyware software? I imagine we've not got to the stage yet where this is nessecary.

[Guest chucky.egg]

I know that there will be viruses for "smartphones" eventually, but there are NONE at the moment, so what is the software going to protect you from?

MS Smartphones dont have hard disks, and relatively little memory, so you shouldn't need a defragger

Spyware scanners? OMFG! Don't get the "I want virus protection for my Smartphone"-brigade started on that one!

[Guest]

I know that there will be viruses for "smartphones" eventually, but there are NONE at the moment, so what is the software going to protect you from?

I'd prefer to be ready when there is some. Don't you think?

MS Smartphones dont have hard disks, and relatively little memory, so you shouldn't need a defragger

True they don't have hard disks but the memory is essentially the same, so surely the same rules apply the files can become fragmented, no?

You can get 1Gb memory cards now, don't memory cards get fragmented also?

Spyware scanners? OMFG! Don't get the "I want virus protection for my Smartphone"-brigade started on that one!

LOL. I can see a time where they are needed.

[Guest chucky.egg]

I'd prefer to be ready when there is some. Don't you think?

No, not me. The more time and energy spent discussing and thinking about this the more obvious a target we become.

I'd rather keep my head down, and use common sense when downloading/installing apps

True they don't have hard disks but the memory is essentially the same, so surely the same rules apply the files can become fragmented, no?

Yeah, files could potentially get fragmented, but my point was that with such small amounts of memory it's not going to affect performance that much - it's not like it has to trawl through loads to find the parts of the files.

I could be wrong on this. Maybe if you have a big memory card, say 512 or 1Gb, and you kept adding to a big file it could start to have an effect.

LOL. I can see a time where they are needed.

Nah, if it gets to that stage people will be deserting MS Smartphone likes rats off a sinking ship.

People will/do tolerate stuff like that on a PC (I don't know why, but they do) but I personaly would never tolerate that on a phone. It's too much of an invasion of (the perception of) privacy and personal space. My phone is a personal item to me, and I depend on it, so I won't put my lifestyle at risk with a flaky OS.

[Guest Toyota-F1.com]

I'd be interested in the Defrag software ^_^

[Guest olly_k]

Not at all convinced memory cards can get fragmented in the same way as harddrives, as data on hard drives is laid down in a serial manner, and fragmentation occurs when you start to delete files previously laid, and small 'data holes' appear that arn't large enough for the OS to see as empty space. This also means one file maybe spread over a large area of the disk, which results in a slowdown due to the mechanical nature of the drive... RAM is different because everything is addressed in a parallel manner, although I guess it all depends on exactly how it is addressed and controlled so I may be wrong after all that :? Well at least it's a thought ^_^

[Guest rvacha]

What I would like to have is an app that allows you to check a memory card's file system offer some utilities such as formatting (FAT12, FAT16, FAT32). I used to have one for my PPC and really liked it

[Guest]

What file system do memory cards use?

[Guest dahquim]

HI

On the topic at antivirus protection, try this

Trend' target='_blank'>http://smartphone.modaco.com/viewtopic.php...ght=trend]Trend Antivirus for Smartphone 2003

AND... dont get me started on the whole antivirus issue.

Dahquim

[Guest clonmult]

Not at all convinced memory cards can get fragmented in the same way as harddrives, as data on hard drives is laid down in a serial manner, and fragmentation occurs when you start to delete files previously laid, and small 'data holes' appear that arn't large enough for the OS to see as empty space. This also means one file maybe spread over a large area of the disk, which results in a slowdown due to the mechanical nature of the drive... RAM is different because everything is addressed in a parallel manner, although I guess it all depends on exactly how it is addressed and controlled so I may be wrong after all that :? Well at least it's a thought ^_^

Basically you are right - whilst a memory card can get fragmented, performance isn't an issue, as (in theory) access to all parts of memory is done at pretty much equal speed.

[Guest]

Call me stupid but where on that link (the one inside the forum link above of course) can you actually download this AV software?

[Guest RT87]

Just did a search about defragging my phone, and this is only the topic which came up, so I'll revive it.

I know its only been 15 or so days, but is there any info on defragmentation software? I install and uninstall lots of things o my phone and its getting slower and slower. I am pretty reluctant to do a hard-reset as well.

Any news?

[Guest ferret]

The only information about defrag software is that there isn't any available.

Don't be reluctant about doing a hard reset, it's fine (as long as you backup everything you want to keep).

I always restart the phone after (un)installing software, I think this helps.

[Guest ultimasnake]

Did anyone think of the fact that you can't write an anti-virus/anti-spam tool when there is no virus/spam tool available? you can only protect a device from viruses when there is actually something to identify as a virus ;P

[Guest Pigo]

HAHA Ultimasnake. you took the words right out of my mouth. was thinking the same thing while reading these posts.

though a firewall wouldn't be a bad Idea I think. sometimes a bit paranoid about people getting my personal info and numbers from my contacts list.

but then again. it could just be that I tend to be a little paranoid.

Pigo

[Guest KingDaddy]

Cuoldn't you just copy everything off of the SD card, format it and copy everything back. Wouldn't that give you the effect of defragmenting it?

[Guest PinkPig]

I find this quite ridiculous. There's no viruses for the smartphone, no spyware for the smartphone, and no evidence that you need to defrag / similar. But people want these tools - for what purpose? It's just encouraging the conmen of the world. I could very easily write an anti-virus program that reliably removes every smartphone virus currently available. Anyone want to pay me $20 for it? :S

[Guest SilentlyScreaming]

Heuristic (see here if you're not sure) scanning is a possibility right now, not all a/v solutions revolve around specified threat detection.

Just a thought.

[Guest markgamber]

Yeah, it's ridiculous, but if sheep want to line up and pay for essentially do-nothing software, I'm happy to oblige and I take PayPal. Give 'em what they want, who cares what they really need?

[Guest The Undefeated]

You can get an sd ca

[Guest The Undefeated]

sorry, You can get an sd card reader and use your PC's software to scan your stuff and defragment your files.

[Guest kjaldevi]

Here's a link to a free antivirus beta for Windows Mobile Smartphone i found.

Link

[Guest]

sorry, You can get an sd card reader and use your PC's software to scan your stuff and defragment your files.

And what would the point of that be?

There is no reason to suggest that memory cards need defraging (assuming that PC defrag tools will do it - I haven't been bothered to check), and a PC virus scanner will only scan for PC viruses (which won't affect the SmartPhone OS) and therefore won't scan for currently non-existent SmartPhone viruses.

Viruses could potentially come to the SmartPhone platform, but there are none in the wild and probably won't be for a while.

If we ever need these tools in the future you can guarantee that the major AV houses will offer something, either as a stand-alone ap or as a value-added bonus to PC packages.

Right now there are better things to loose sleep over!

</2cents>

[Guest rodrigoperu]

hey guys, here are my two cents regarding these:

antispyware... no, not yet at least. what many fail to see is that phones more and more resemble your average computer, and I'm not talking only about Windows CE based devices. More and more, we keep in our phones some of the sensitive info that spyware looks for, so it's only a matter of time before we start to see some form of spyware for the mobile world, whatever flavor it is (symbian, MS or any other)

Antivirus... well, so far I have read about 2 "viruses" actually. Malware they call them, since basically they are just proof of concept. But they do exist. One, attaches itself to any .exe file on the phone, and it was sent to an antivirus company to prove there are ways to infect the phones. the other, which seems to be also written by the same person/group, 29A; uses bluetooth to send messages to other phones (NOT mobiluck/bluejacking) What it does, however, and here's the trick; it does it without you knowing it, and if written with bad intentions, could send not harmless messages, but sensitive info, contacts, credit card numbers, accounts, etc; anything stored on the phone. As any person with some insight will tell, obviously these machines and their OS are prime targets for viruses, and as we as users demand more and more tools that allow us to use the phones as our "portable" databases, it's also a matter of time until some vulnerabilities are exploited. How much damage/stolen data/hijacked calls happen, depends on how much sensitive information we store on the phones, and how we use them.

I mean, it's naive, from my point of view, to expect a phone to perform more and more as a portable computer, albeit a primitive one (for now) and not accepting the fact that a computer will always have vulnerabilities.

defrag... for what I have seen on my phone, there's no need for defragmenting it. As somebody else explained, the way the memory is accessed on the phones flash memory and a PC hard drive are different, and that difference is what actually protects the phone from having a fragmented memory. I have had my phone about 2 weeks only, but it has seen at least 50-60 installantions and uninstallations already, and still performs as it did the first day I got it.

I don't think there's a NEED for any of these products today, SPECIALLY ones that you have to buy. Like other poster said, what would an antivirus protect you from, since there are no viruses out there yet? And what good would it do you having it, if it will NOT identify a virus when it sees it for the first time? When a virus arrives, then I will get an antivirus. And I do not agree with the thought that when that happens people will ditch MS's phones. Unless we want to go back to the days of 4 lines of text, monochromatic screens and having SMS as the "killer app" on our phones, we have to accept the fact that these phones (MS, symbian, etc) will be attacked, and we can only try and use any tools that are available at that time, to protect our phones.

[Guest Matt Kirby]

One other thing about spyware - let's not forget that spyware works for it's authors by sending information back to base over the internet, or by using the users' internet browsing details to direct (or force) them to sites that pay the referrer.

For the spyware author its worth doing on the PC because of the amount of time people spend on the internet, even more so now with always-on connections such as ADSL & cable.

Smartphones are not as an attractive proposition - people spend less time connected and do less browsing - most people tend to connect, do what they need to, and then disconnect. If / when GPRS gets cheaper, or unlimited bundles become affordable for the many, then peoples' usage habits will change and spyware might be worth doing. Until then I doubt that anyone will bother targeting Smartphones with spyware, since the perceived return is so small compared to the hassle of writing the software in the first place.

Of course, that's not to prevent someone trying to do it just because they can.

As for the Nokia Bluetooth proof-of-concept virus (more info at http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/15/symbian_virus/>The Register), its not as sophisticated as PC viruses, the user has to acknowledge the installation before the virus can do anything. Although people are constantly told not to open dodgy attachments and they still do!