Cell phone insecurity

This CW note about the insecurity of cell phones is an acute reminder.  I don't even think about the security of my cell phone.  I just use it whenever I have to.  The risk is with smart phones and most pesky viruses are delivered via Bluetooth technology.  The smart phones, like the descriptive name suggests, can do all kinds of things a plain old cell phone can't.  For instance, you can take a candid picture with your smart phone and immediately email the picture to whomever you like.  You can check the web for the latest stock market numbers, check your email, calendar your life, text your best friend, all while drinking a latte and snacking on a scone.  Does it get any better than this?

One piece of advice I read somewhere was to turn off your smart phone when you aren't specifically using it.  That advice falls into the same category as shutting down your computer when you aren't using it.  That just doesn't work in our fast paced society.  Cell phones and computers seem to stay on at work and at our house around the clock, for convenience sake.

I can see a bit of a battle coming in the very near future.  We've learned to protect our computers, and we will soon have to learn to protect our digital, smart cell phones.  While a number of cell phone viruses have been reported, there have not been any real mass outbreaks - yet.

Fortunately for us, the anti-virus vendors such as McAfee and Symantec have been working on this problem for a few years.  Symantec has a couple of products: Mobile Security for Symbian, and Client Security for Nokia Communicators.  McAfee has three products: Mobile Security for Enterprise, Mobile Security for Carriers, and Mobile Security for Manufacturers.  The cell phone carriers do employ some kind of scanning and filtering technology, but I am not clear on what they actually use.  I have not personally tried any of these products and if anyone has, I'd like to hear about it.