Symantec today rolled out its first Norton security software product specifically for tablets, an offering designed to protect Android tablets from phishing attacks, malware, and physical theft. This is part of Norton Everywhere initiative which aims to put a Norton Security product on every connected device.
Priced at $39.99, Norton Tablet Security will provide tablets running Android 2.2 or higher with most of the same protections as Norton Mobile Security, Symantec’s suite for Android phones.
Norton Tablet Security is optimized” for tablets larger screen sizes, said Mark Kanok, group product manager for Symantec’s mobile division. Users can access features from rows of columns stretched horizontally across the screen. Symantec is also going to track new tablets as they hit the market to make sure the product will work well with them, according to Kanok.
Tablets and Phones Phishing Prone Users are even more prone to phishing attacks on tablets and smartphones than on PCs since Short URLs and QR Codes obfuscate the origin of a URL, according to Kanok.
While most perpetrators of phishing attacks are out to steal personal information, Kanok also pointed to a rising breed of “hacktivists” who are combining hacking with political activitism.
One increasingly prevalent hacking technique is for an interloper to take a popular app off the Android Market, decompile it, add some malicious code, and then resubmit the app online.
The malicious version of an app can con the user into granting permission for it to receive text messages and control the browser.
Like Norton Mobile Security and other Norton products, the new tablet software uses Symantec’s Safe Web technology in efforts to block fraudulent and malicious Web sites.
Price
The new Norton Tablet Security will be available through select retail partners in the next few weeks at the MSRP of $39.99 USD for a one year service period
