Smart protection for your smart phone

A sophisticated Mobile Security app should be able to trace your Android enabled photo if you lose it

If you lose your Android-based mobile phone and you've already installed Norton Mobile Security for Android 2.0, then you shouldn't have too much to worry about.

That's because it can locate the current lock location of your phone if it is online or tell you where it was when it was online for the last time. It can also lock your phone, wipe out personal information and even take a photo of the possible thief.

Norton Mobile Security can be used for both tablet computers and smart phones running on Android OS. But the tablet will miss features for smart phones, such as remote locating, remote locking, SIM card locking and call and text barring. Why? Well, because the Android tablets lack these functions anyway.

Norton Mobile Security cannot be found on Android App Market like other Android applications. To install it, you must use your phone or tablet to download it from www.Nortoncom.com/nms.

Then, once you've installed it, you must buy an activation code from the Norton reseller. In Thailand, you can buy it from SiS Distribution Thailand for Bt499. The price includes a one-year service subscription to use the product and receive Symantec's protection updates. To find out where they are, call them on (02) 640 3000.

To install it, first register for an account with Norton.com. The account will then be used to monitor your phone online.

After you have installed the Norton Mobile Security, install Norton Anti-Theft plug-in. This time, Norton Mobile Security will prompt you to download the plug-in from Android Market.

The Anti-Theft is the fun part of Norton Mobile Security. During the installation, you are required to set a password for locking and unlocking your mobile phone. You are also prompted to select your contacts, who can unlock your phone in case you have lost or cannot remember the password.

Then you can use a Norton website - https://antitheft.norton.com - to monitor the whereabouts of your phone as well as locking and unlocking it.

The antitheft web page will show a Google map with a mark of your phone's current position. During the test, the web page correctly located my phone to the location of my home soi.

You can also use the antitheft page to take the picture of the person who is holding your phone, using the Sneak Peak function. But the phone will make a shutter sound when you order it to take a photo from the web, which is a bit of a give away. However, the screen of the phone remained inactive when the phone took the photo during the test. The picture of the person holding the phone would appear shortly.

You can also send SMS commands to lock and locate the phone and wipe out personal data if you have lost it. You simply type the commands of lock followed by your password and send an SMS to the number of your lost phone. You can also have it make a sound by sending the "scream" command to the phone.

Norton Mobile Security can also block calls and text messages from specific phone numbers.

Its Anti-Malware feature will scan the phone for possible viruses, spyware and other threats. The scan be done on a weekly basis automatically and the feature can also automatically scan a microSD card when you plug it to your phone.

When you install a new app, Norton Mobile Security will also scan it for possible threat.

Norton Mobile Security also includes anti-phishing Web Protection to block dangerous sites that mimic legitimate sites that trick uses into revealing their user names, passwords and other personal information.

System requirements

OS supported: Android 2.0 or later

Device requirements: Android 2.0 with 1.8 MB of storage (Android phones and tablets)