It's hard to remember the days when a mobile looked like a brick and all it was good for was making and receiving phone calls. Modern smartphones now provide e-mail, Internet, videoconferencing and entertainment. They're like a computer in your ear - but like all computers, mobile phones is subject to security threats such as hacking and viruses - and that's where BullGuard Mobile Security 10 comes in.

Get yourself protected
Setting up BullGuard's latest mobile security suite is easy - simply purchase the software and download it from the Net directly to your phone, and enter the supplied registration code. A simple black screen pops up with the programme's three main functions highlighted - AntiVirus, Parental Control and Basic Backup.

AntiVirus will either scan the complete phone or scan selected files or folders. It will also hunt specifically for spyware, and keeps virus protection automatically up to date to guard against new threats. A further sub-menu will let you schedule regular scans, view the scan log and look at any threats that have been spotted. However viruses arrive - via direct download, SMS, MMS, e-mail, Bluetooth or infra-red - they're identified and dealt with.

Basic Backup and Parental Control
The other two principal functions make use of BullGuard's Web interface to organise further security and protect data. Basic Backup is exactly that - it will save your contacts and your calendar (but, disappointingly, not your messages) and will later restore the data to another phone if the original is damaged or lost. Parental Control, on the other hand, provides comprehensive remote monitoring of your child's calls and contacts, as well as any pictures, messages or apps that have been sent or received.

All of this can be controlled from the BullGuard Mobile Security Manager website, where you can also automatically lock your phone and wipe its contents (in case of theft), as well as keeping track of it via GPS, and even send a scream alarm if you've left it around the house or in a restaurant. However, both the GPS location and the screamer seemed reluctant to kick in during our trial.

OS support
There's much to commend in BullGuard Mobile Security 10 - but the downside is that this software won't work on any iPhone. It's restricted to handsets running Android (version 2.0 and above), Symbian (on Nokia devices running Series 60 3rd and 5th edition), Windows (Mobile 6.0, 6.1 and 6.5 but not Windows Phone 7) and Blackberry (4.2 and higher). Apple people, it seems, will have to hope that Mobile Security 11 will finally include them...

Verdict
As long as you don't own an iPhone, BullGuard's Mobile Security 10 has an easy-to-organise AntiVirus program and comprehensive child phone monitoring, but it's let down by very limited phone backup and temperamental GPS tracking.

Company: BullGuard

Contact: Live Web support only

Tags: antivirus iphone parental control windows phone 7 mobile phone sms s60 (software platform) security