anti-virus SW

[gabby_l]

hi,

is there any need for anti-virus SW to be instaled in the PDA? if so, is there any freeware to download? any cons for instaling anti-virus?
thanks for your advice.

There hasnt been any virus's that have caused any sort of damage yet. And probably won't be since there isn't a lot of interest in the PDA like there is in messing up the worlds pc's. There have been a couple of companies selling antivirus for pda's but most people who have posted on this site have uninstalled it after putting it in as far as I can tell. And if you did get a virus you just have to hard reset and it is all gone so no big damage. The only possible problem would be getting infected files that have transfered from your PDA to your PC and getting infected that way but hopefully your PC has enough protection to stop that. Welcome to the site!!

[mostlylisten]

No viruses have ever been found on an axim. Ditto above comment.

[DJUnreal]

That'd be because virii aren't written for hardware, they're written for software. So no virii for the Axim, but possibly virii for Windows Mobile...

[gabby_l]

thank you very kindly for your prompt answer big dave. thanks a lot.

fyi you can download spybot for free for windows mobile devices...

also, avast, symantec, airscanner and kaspersky have full (paid) antivirus protection softwares for wm as well.

all three have integrated active protection that can be switched on and off. file scanning usually takes a long time. realtime protection tends to be resource heavy on handheld devices as well.

depending on your environment (enterprise vs personal use) you may or may not need a mobile antivirus policy. maybe just for email, if youre using that heavliy on your device..

jd

[bernardm]

fyi you can download spybot for free for windows mobile devices...

also, avast, symantec, airscanner and kaspersky have full (paid) antivirus protection softwares for wm as well.

all three have integrated active protection that can be switched on and off. file scanning usually takes a long time. realtime protection tends to be resource heavy on handheld devices as well.

depending on your environment (enterprise vs personal use) you may or may not need a mobile antivirus policy. maybe just for email, if youre using that heavliy on your device..

jd

Now that's interesting... I have used spybot on many a PC during it's 3 or 4 year history. But really never thought about downloading a version for mobile windows.

[Eric12341]

avast, symantec, airscanner and kaspersky have full (paid) antivirus protection softwares for wm as well.

all three have integrated active protection that can be switched on and off. file scanning usually takes a long time. realtime protection tends to be resource heavy on handheld devices as well.

jd

WASTE OF MONEY!!!!!

WASTE OF MONEY!!!!!

some large scale pda deployments require antivirus and or encryption. depending on the policy that the net admin designates.

antivirus software slows a pda down quite a bit, especially if 3rd party software is installed. if youre just using your pda for personal use (ie, most people here) you probably dont need or want antivirus or spyware software. encryption isnt a bad idea though, especially if youre really using the device as intended. you probably have sensitive information on there that should be protected.

there are a few exploits out there for windows mobile. check out security focus, symantec, among others, if you dont believe me.

the point is, you dont want your users' devices to be a host for a virus/rootkits/trojans etc which while dormant and useless on a windows mobile device, could wreak havoc on a network when they sync at home then bring these things into your network!

its NOT a waste of money! however, for personal use its not really necessary.

jd

There is a larger threat of someone finding your PPC and stealing your identity. Even your contacts list and appointments is enough to cause issues in the wrong hands. Checkout PS_v4.0_Website_Home

[sibble-comp]

Slows down a PDA? It made ZERO difference to the speed on my X51v when I installed Trend Micro's Mobile Security 3.0 the other day. I ended up removing it as it caused other problems and is the reason I've never kept antivirus/firewall software on my Axim for very long. I've used the 2.0 version of Trend, Fortinet's Forticlient (av/firewall/vpn). All of these break something typically in the tcp/ip stack. The TMMS3.0 surprised me when I installed it on Friday, no slow downs or memory issues, no problems stopping and starting wifi etc, I thought, sweet, the've fixed the problems. That lasted all of 2 days and I started seeing the usual stuff, couldn't get online, check email, icons in the system tray not showing up after a soft reset and a new one for me, OAC (oddyssey access client) would open up with a blank top menu bar and all the other apps, wisbar lite etc, and any menu's for apps, would not open up, you'd click on them but nothing. Usually a few seconds after this started, the pda would screen would shut off, and only way around it was to do a soft reset.

With that said, OAC is big part of the mix I am sure as I've always had problems with the full version especially with vpn software installed (I use NCP). There are numerous threads on this on aximsite.

As to the point of not needing it, and waste of money, the bad guys ARE targetting pda's and smartphones as they are so ubiquitous, from what I've read, there are a lot more cell/smartphones out there than pc's. And many people keep an awful lots of sensitive data on these devices. Sure things aren't bad..... yet.