If the Redmond company has officially drawn a line under Windows Phone and its mobile OS, it is not as far as it has abandoned smartphones. Microsoft is indeed always present on the phones via several applications: Teams, Authentificator, Edge, Office, etc. and a new app is about to appear on Android, Microsoft Defender.
Microsoft has indeed decided to bring its famous antivirus on mobile. "The threats in the mobile space are unique, and as more and more people use mobile devices for work, the need for organizations to protect the data accessible via the devices of their users is more and more imperative" said Rob Lefferts, corporate vice president, Microsoft 365 Security and Compliance.
Microsoft promises optimal protection
According to Microsoft, its antivirus will be more effective than the protection measures put in place by Google to fight against malware and phishing campaigns. "Scans are done instantly to detect malware and potentially unwanted applications," said Kanishka Srivastava, senior program manager at Microsoft. The antivirus will instantly block phishing campaigns by SMS, email, WhatsApp or any other form, says the Redmond company.
Microsoft Defender will also have SmartScreen technology that allows blocking connections to dangerous networks that could be used by malicious people to break into smartphones.
When a safe application is downloaded, Defender will apply a small notification on it to let the user know that it is safe.
Currently, Microsoft Defender is only available on Android early access, but it is expected that the antivirus will also be available on iOS later this year. The latter should be much more limited due to Apple's operating system and the limitations imposed by the Cupertino company.
If it is possible to test the application in beta version today on Android, it will most certainly be necessary to wait several weeks or months before seeing the final version appear. It is not yet known whether the Microsoft Defender application will be free or not.
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- Microsoft
- IOS
- Android
- Cybersecurity
- Anti-virus
- Computer virus
- Smartphone
- Application
- Mobile app
- High-Tech