I’m a firm believer that every mobile user wants security but they don’t want to take the steps necessary to achieve that. I don’t blame them either, as the PC model of security has left a bad taste in all of our mouths. I recently met with the head of NQ Mobile and the company believes that mobile security must be approached in a different way to be successful.
Co-CEO Omar Khan said the company has seen some very nasty malware attacks out there but he hopes that it won’t take a wide-spread outbreak in order for people to take mobile security seriously. NQ Mobile has a much larger presence in China, where mobile malware is a much bigger problem but Khan is hoping to expand awareness of his company beyond those borders. The company has 147 million registered users and about 64 percent of those reside in China.
Along with bringing its products to more users, Khan is also trying to reshape the conversation about mobile security.
“Security is much broader than what we see from PC security today,” Khan said. “Mobile [security] is more than just anti-virus and anti-malware, it’s also about protecting the personal data you care about.”
Platforms like iOS and Android are built with security features in mind (sandboxing, etc.) but that doesn’t mean these can’t be compromised. We’ve seen Google step in to regulate malware in the Play Store and iOS apps have faced some questions about how apps handle your personal data. Khan said he believes that the platform providers have done a great job on security but there’s never going to be able to catch everything.
He believes that NQ Mobile is uniquely positioned to help address these issues. First of all, it was built from the ground up for mobile security in mind and that could give it a leg up over PC security companies trying to come to mobile. “Technology matters,” Khan said and NQ Mobile has the ability to identify, detect and contain malicious code at a rapid pace.
NQ Mobile also seems to understand that people are concerned about viruses and malware costing them money but they also want to make sure that their contacts, pictures of friends and other personal data are secure. Its Vault product creates a secure, encrypted area for you to place text messages, contacts, pictures and more to ensure that these can’t be reached by others. It also has a Privacy Advisor on its main security product which tells you what apps have access to your data.
The company got its start on Symbian but it sees a large market on Android for a few reasons. In many markets, the Play store isn’t the main way users get apps, so these additional distribution channels offer added risk. It also has plans to have a few products for iOS like intelligent calendar and backups.
I find that security is never really as fun to talk about as a new photo-sharing app or a fancy social network but it’s important to remember that these pocket computers hold a ton of valuable data. Whether you use the products from NQ Mobile or another company, it’s important that we all start taking smartphone security seriously.