Software
A latest Android antivirus program from Microsoft is now available in preview
Microsoft today releases a preview of its Android antivirus software. The tech giant announced that both iOS and Android had been pushed ahead earlier this year through Windows Defender, but did not clarify what to expect. We now get a clear idea of why Android needs antivirus protection, just why Microsoft thinks.
The Android public preview provides phishing protection and goes one step further than the built-in malware protection provided by Google to offer signature malware detection. Kanichka Srivastava, a senior program manager at Microsoft, says, "Scans are used to detect malware and potentially unsolicited applications (pUAs).
When a safe application is downloaded, a lightweight notification will be shown to warn the end user of the clean request.
Web security from Microsoft would provide anti-phishing to immediately block dangerous websites distributed via SMS, WhatsApp, email or other applications.
Microsoft also uses Defender smartScreen to block unsafe connections to networks which malicious applications could seek to create without user knowledge.
More than a year after Microsoft released the Defender Antivirus on MacOS, the Android beta version arrives.
As a result, Microsoft has renamened Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection (ATP), and Mac client also delives full virus and threat security, combined with ability to perform quick or complete scans. The Mac client also provides advanced threat protection.
Microsoft is also planning an iOS anti-virus program, but the company's provision on Apple operating systems is obviously much more constrained.
Apple sandboxes iOS applications by default and forbids sideloading software for most end-user without the App Store first. How the Microsoft Defender iOS update will deliver, specifically, is not yet clear.
Rob Lefferts, corporate vice president for Microsoft 365 security, states that "In the coming months we will be offering additional capabilities in Android and will hear from us about our mobile threat protection investments in IOS devices too."
Microsoft is now now providing Defender ATP with a structured antivirus solution that can be provided across Client and Server Platforms such as Windows , MacOS and Linux on Linux.
