Consumers who purchase McAfee Total Protection or McAfee Internet Security Suite get McAfee VirusScan Mobile at no additional charge.  « Mobile Internet use, which now involves everything from e-mail to payments and mobile security, will become of greater importance as threats evolve, » said Todd Gebhart, senior vice president and general manager, McAfee Consumer, Mobile and Small Business. « While not yet widespread, McAfee Avert Labs has identified 450 different mobile threat variants, including viruses and spyware that can threaten devices and personal information.»

McAfee VirusScan Mobile is designed from the ground up to provide mobile protection. It guards against threats and protects the device at entry points, including SMS, MMS and e-mail. It automatically scans incoming and outgoing data for malicious code and continuously monitors and analyzes mobile data and files. VirusScan Mobile also seamlessly interacts with McAfee’s Avert Labs for the latest protection updates.  Infections from mobile malware can occur through message attachments, application downloads, Bluetooth communication and PC synchronization.

Hackers are increasingly using sophisticated social engineering tactics to trick users to confirm the installation of mobile malware and public mobile Internet sites have also been used to propagate malicious software.  Examples of recent mobile threats include viruses like « Duts » and « Xrove ». « Duts » attached its viral code to executable files and proved how a virus can spread within a Windows Mobile device. « Xrove » demonstrated how a Windows mobile device can get infected via PC synchronization. Mobile variants of spyware and phishing over text messaging have been identified as well.

Currently, McAfee VirusScan Mobile supports Microsoft Windows Mobile 5 Smartphone and Windows Mobile 6 Standard Edition devices. Through the « MyAccount page » at http://us.mcafee.com, McAfee customers can view the most up-to-date list of supported devices, which includes such popular mobile devices as the Motorola Q9h.