Microsoft believes there's a market for its security software on mobile devices, so Android and iOS users will soon have the option of running Microsoft Defender on their devices.
Posting on the Microsoft Security Blog, Moti Gindi, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Defender ATP, confirmed that the company has been working on and investing in mobile threat defense. The end result is a version of Microsoft Defener ATP for both Android and iOS .
As CNBC reports, Microsoft sees a gap in the market for its security solution on mobile devices. Malware is a problem on mobile devices even if they are seen as safer environments than that offered by a desktop PC. However, Microsoft believes there's still a risk, especially for corporate users, if users install apps found outside of the official app stores or are subject to a phishing attack.
Microsoft has been receiving some good press around Defender of late. In August last year Windows Defender achieved "Best Antivirus" status which is quite some feat for a solution that's completely free. Since then it's been enhanced with "Tamper Protection" which stops malicious apps changing Windows 10 security settings.
Defender on mobile apps may be treated with more suspicion, but Microsoft will no doubt be pushing the use of Defender as part of a wider package of apps including the all-in-one Office mobile app which just came out of public preview and is available worldwide.
We should find out more about Microsoft's plans for Defender on Android and iOS during the RSA Conference being held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco next week (Feb. 24-28).
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