North Sydney, New South Wales -- (SBWIRE) -- 04/24/2012 -- With more than half of Australians concerned about mobile device theft and a third of people worried about their personal data if they were to lose their mobile, Vodafone and McAfee have partnered to launch McAfee Mobile Security, a monthly subscription-based security service application.

“With the rise of the smartphone and all of the fantastic ways we use our mobile devices, protecting personal contacts, SMS messages and other sensitive information including photos is something everyone should consider,” said James Dampney, Head of Applications at Vodafone.

Research conducted by Carnegie Mellon1 on behalf of Vodafone and McAfee also revealed that 54 per cent of people store personal photos and 25 per cent keep confidential work-related information - such as emails - on their mobile phones. With Australians’ increasing reliance on their mobiles for organising their professional and personal lives 46 per cent of Aussies are more worried about mobile device theft, 35 per cent are concerned about the loss of personal or work data if they accidentally lose their device and 31 per cent are concerned by the exposure of sensitive personal information to a possible cyber attack.

McAfee Mobile Security from Vodafone provides a comprehensive suite of mobile handset and data security services not matched by any native, pre-installed security settings.

Features include:
- Anti-theft Protection:
- Device Lock: Prevents misuse of the user’s phone and personal data by remotely locking all data, including the data on the memory (SIM) card, and displaying a "contact me" message on the device
- Remotely Wipe Data: Protects the user’s privacy by remotely deleting the data on the phone and removable memory card. It can also back up data before the remote wipe to prevent the loss of data on the device.
- Backup and Restore Data: Preserves irreplaceable personal information on demand, on a schedule, or before wiping a missing smartphone, then restores information to the new device
- Locate and Track: Helps user’s to recover their smartphone if it is lost or stolen. User’s can view the device’s location on a map, send an SMS to prompt its return and use a remote alarm to make it "scream”
- Display of a personalised message with instructions regarding how to contact the owner to return a lost device
- Complete Anti-virus, Anti-spyware and Anti-phishing Protection: Scans and cleans malicious code from inbound emails, outbound emails, text messages, attachments and files
- Web Protection: McAfee SiteAdvisor® protects against Web threats by blocking risky links within SMS, email and social networking sites. It also safeguards against potential phishing sites, browser exploits and malicious quick response (QR) codes.
- Online Management: The McAfee Web portal lets users quickly execute needed security tasks, such as backup, restore, locate, and remote lock and wipe
- Uninstall Protection: Prevents a thief or another user from bypassing their McAfee mobile protection

“Mobile devices are the record keepers of much of our personal and business lives, whether it is our emails, text messages or images,” Michael Sentonas, Chief Technology Officer for McAfee Asia-Pacific. “The anxiety we feel when we believe that we have lost our device is not only to do with the inconvenience of the loss; the next questions we ask are who has access to the information on the device and what will they do with it?”

McAfee Mobile Security from Vodafone also draws on McAfee expertise and tools to safeguard against device infection, data loss and exposure to fraud or ID theft by offering protection against the latest mobile malware threats coming from applications, messages and websites. The application enables safe mobile web browsing by blocking mobile sites that are suspected of harbouring infection from malware or mobile phishing or imposter sites that aim to trick the user into submitting their personal identification or financial information.

“Customers who have either lost their mobile phone or been unfortunate enough to have their mobile stolen can go through a harrowing experience when they realise how much of their life is stored on their smartphone,” said Dampney. “It is a simple download and then for just $3 per month, with the first month free, the Mobile Security app created by McAfee is really easy to use and gives peace of mind.”

The McAfee Mobile Security app from Vodafone is available for download now from the Vodafone and 3 websites with a subscription fee of $3 per month. Sign up before 31 March 2012 to get your first month free. Supported device operating systems include Google Android 2.1 - 3.0 (smartphones).