Orange signs up F-Secure for mobile AV

Orange has signed up F-Secure to lock down its customers' phones.

The mobile operator has announced it has signed up the Finnish firm to provide security for Orange users' smart devices, saying it believes the threat of mobile malware will increase over the coming years.

Mobile viruses, however, remain relatively unheard of compared to their PC counterparts and far less harmful to hardware they infect. According to F-Secure, currently there are over 200 virus variants targeting smart phones, although none can infect a handset without the user having taken direct action themselves. There are only thought to be around 14 'core' viruses for mobiles in existence.

One company which handles support calls for several big name handset makers reported just 10 calls out of the 275,000 calls it handled were about mobile viruses and many in the industry believe that the threat from mobile viruses is over-hyped.

Orange maintains the threat is "reasonably low" but said that it has encountered 2,100 virus cases across its network in May.

A spokesman for Orange said the operator had learnt lessons from the PC industry and was hoping to act before viruses become a serious problem. Notification about the new service will appear on Orange's portal, Orange World, and on the Orange website. Callers who contact the operator with virus fears will also be told about the service.

"We're not promoting it per se because we don't want to alarm customers and make them think there's a wave of viruses," Orange's spokesman said.

The service is set to launch next week and will be priced at £1.50 a month.