F-Secure helps Orange with mobile antivirus

F-Secure said Thursday its Mobile Antivirus software is now available for some devices in Switzerland through operator Orange.

Free IT resource Virtualization Insights from Top Experts - Learn how virtualization gets real! Sponsored by Dell Free IT resource TechNet: More ways to know it, share it, and keep it running. Sponsored by Microsoft

The software, which ranges in size from 400KB to 750KB depending on the mobile device, can be downloaded through the Orange portal at http://mobile.orange.ch/antivirus. The downloaded program will go directly to the device, F-Secure said.

Software updates are automatically pushed to the device, F-Secure said. The software is free for the first month and then costs 3 Swiss francs ($2.30) per month.

Notable mobile viruses such as Cabir, which spreads through Bluetooth, and Comwar, which spreads using Bluetooth and MMS (multimedia messaging service), have increased concern over how complex devices may be targeted by virus writers.

Last month, the first for-profit mobile virus was discovered. The Trojan horse virus, called Redbrowser, features a social engineering ploy written in Russian. When activated, the virus sends SMS (short message service) messages to a phone number that charges around $6 per message, according to Kaspersky Labs, an antivirus vendor.