Partnership Offers Security Technology For Smart PhonesPartnership Offers Security Technology For Smart Phones

McAfee Inc., a provider of intrusion-prevention and security risk-management software, and Good Technology Inc., a provider of mobile device software and services like E-mail, created a partnership on Monday to distribute McAfee's virus scanning software wirelessly to smart phones using Good's security technology.

McAfee's flagship product, VirusScan Mobile, offers scanning, detection, and cleaning of data on wireless devices to protect them from viruses, worms, malware, malicious code, and attacks like Trojans, which are increasingly threatening mobile users. These threats come from various communications services, including E-email, instant messaging, and Internet downloads.

Good's Secure OTA and Mobile Defense products provide businesses with advanced password management, application lockdown, handheld feature control for disabling data transfer ports like Bluetooth or Wi-Fi, advanced encryption management, and a data-erase capability.

A combination of VirusScan Mobile and Good's security software will let IT managers remotely enforce virus scanning on smart phones, cell phones that can run business applications and access the Internet, without asking end users to turn in their devices, the companies say.

It is becoming increasingly important for businesses to treat mobile devices with the same level of security they treat laptops and desktops, because of the growing amount of corporate data and personal information that resides on these devices. "Growth of mobile malware is exceeding the PC world and is a serious threat to companies," Drew Carter, senior product manager of McAfee's Mobile Security group, said at last month's Mobile Business Expo in Chicago.

Good says it expects 50% to 65% of companies deploying applications on mobile devices to adopt tools that secure and manage those applications in the next one to two years.