Do I Need Anti-Virus Software For My N96?

Mr_Yoda

I've recently got the Nokia N96 and was wondering whether I need anti-virus software for it. I can browse the net trhough wap or by connecting to WLAN and will be mainly checking Facebook and searching for images through Google.

I'm aware of a number of products available (Kaspersky, F-Secure, Trend Micro) and wondered whether i'm likely to need it. Any help would be greatly appreciated as this is my first Nokia and i'm quite impressed by it and don't really want to mess it up.

Browntoa

I would, seeing it has an operating system and can accept files etc

PROLIANT

Not a win32 O/S, dont worry too much about it, but if we want to play "lets get paranoid" then go for it, just watch out for the cost.
Symbian (Nokia) UNIX (Oh loveley) and Linux (Top of the pops) are less likley to be hit by a virus, most virus prgrammers target the win32/64 platform as it is easy to do so and apparently nobody likes Microsoft?
So, choice is yours however I have been running my N95 for over 2 years now "ish" AV none and not a pick of bother.

fwor

Although there have been attacks on Symbian-based phones before, IMO the level of risk is probably quite low.

The biggest motivation for malware writers these days is in creating botnets to use for one reason or another. A symbian-based phone is simply not a viable target from that point of view.

However, if you're very risk averse, it might be worth trying one of the free ones to see if there is a significant performance impact. If there's no great impact, and the data costs (if any) of keeping it up to date are low, it makes sense to leave it in place.

Something that wasn't clear from the product that I looked at is whether it protects the Bluetooth interface, as in the past this has been exploited - for example in the case of bluejacking and bluesnarfing.

Mr_Yoda

Thnaks. I've been thinking about F-Secure but like you say it's not exactly cheap (Euro 49, not sure what that is in £s). Think i'll give it a little bit of thought. The only reason I was wondering was to do with various viruses that fly around Facebook.

Mr_Yoda

fwor wrote: »

Something that wasn't clear from the product that I looked at is whether it protects the Bluetooth interface, as in the past this has been exploited - for example in the case of bluejacking and bluesnarfing.

Somebody mentioned bluejacking to me and I thought they were just being a bit of a tool, didn't realise it actually exists. So how do you protect it from bluejacking?

Browntoa

turn off bluetooth when not using it

Browntoa

theres an articel here about phone viruses

http://www.pcworld.com/article/152496/mobile_phone_viruses_on_the_increase.html

d900

no u dont
i have yet to see anyone come to any harm using BT or a mobile phone..

many things are possible but u wouldnt leave the house if u was that worried about everything

the majority of phones can accept files its not a nokia n96 problem (or s60 problem)..

basically dont worry be happy enjoy the brick in ur pocket