AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) said it will install the Lookout Mobile Security application on most of its new Android phones. The move is intended to help customers stem the advance of threatening mobile applications.
The app will be available to current AT&T Android phone users, and will be pre-installed on future AT&T Android phones starting with the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. The app will run in the background and will scan incoming applications for security threats. The software and service is free, but Lookout plans to charge $2.99 per month, billed to a user's AT&T bill, for the premium version of its service that supports data backup functions and remote wiping capabilities.
That AT&T is using Lookout as a possible response to increasing security threats comes as little surprise. According to a recent report prepared by Juniper Networks, the number of mobile malware threats increased 614 percent from March 2012 to March 2013. Moreover, the report found Android was the OS of choice for malware developers--92 percent of all malware detected by Juniper's Mobile Threat Center were targeted at Android.
And AT&T isn't the only carrier leveraging a third-party app to address the situation. Both Sprint (NYSE:S) and T-Mobile US (NYSE:TMUS) have also agreed to install Lookout Mobile Security on their Android phones.
For Lookout, the AT&T agreement is the company's latest major deal. Last month the company said it raised $55 million in venture funding from the likes of Deutsche Telekom and Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM). And in September Lookout announced a teaming with Samsung--the world's largest Android smartphone vendor--to install Lookout's software on Samsung's Knox mobile security product for businesses.
For more:
- see this release
- see this PhoneScoop article
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