Samsung set to announce antivirus software to be installed on all new devices

According to a Wall Street Journal report, one of the announcements Samsung will be making today at the second episode of their Samsung Unpacked 2013 event is the installation of antivirus security software from Lookout Inc. on all new Android devices. The move appears to be part of Samsung’s attempt to protect business users from the reality that many, if not most, employees are using their personal phones for business purposes. The addition of the Lookout package is another step in that direction as the company tries to get protection out in front of the wall erected by other features on their smartphones. Samsung senior vice president Injong Rhee says, “Lookout is the leader in mobile threat protection and they are uniquely equipped to address business mobile security.”
Android’s lead security engineer, Adrian Ludwig, takes some exception to Samsung’s move as being too aggressive. Google has been adding additional security features to their operating system in recent years, but Ludwig maintains, “there’s not really a significant amount of risk that users are being exposed to.” Nevertheless, thanks to its immense popularity and the more open nature of the platform relative to other options, Android finds itself as the big target enticing malicious security crackers.
The Lookout app falls into a category of apps that maintain data about security threats and compares that information with what users are downloading or installing to their smartphones. The weakness of this type of app is that a threat must be known for Lookout to be able to detect the potential problem. Other companies are creating apps that scan the activity of a mobile device to spot virus-like actions. All of these will continue to chip away at battery life as they have to periodically scan the devices. Lookout expects their app will consume 3-5% of a smartphone’s battery during a typical day.
We have no word on whether Samsung may make the Lookout app available to devices already in the hands of users.
source: Wall Street Journal