Is there an iPhone antivirus App?

Yes there is an anitvirus program for the iphone, Ipad, and Ipod that was just introduced.

Check out Intego's VirusBarrier iOS at

http://www.intego.com/virusbarrierios/

This is for scanning email attachments particularly.

They indicate it is only $3.

There is an article about it here:

http://iphonejailbreaks.org/antivirus-for-iphone-4/

and here

http://www.macworld.com/article/161072/2011/07/intego_virusbarrier_ios.html

They say it is available at the app store:

http://itunes.apple.com/app/id436111378#

I have been using their Mac software for years. It has on occasion found a virus.

I plan on purchasing this for my wife's iPhone as it is inexpensive insurance.

BTW - I do not work for Intego.

Yeah...cos that makes sense...do the one thing which compromises the iphone's security more than anything else...just so you can install "antivirus" software. Good luck with that.....

As someone once said... "There's one born every minute".

There was recently Malware for the iPhone discovered last month. The malware was in PDF attachments that a user may open in an email message sent to the iPhone. Apple had to update the iOS to patch the OS to avoid the exploit which was just released this week. See http://technology.inc.com/2011/07/13/apple-says-it-will-fix-ios-malware-exploit/

I emailed intego to ask them if their product would catch this. Here is the email I receive back.

"Thank you for your e-mail.

VirusBarrier iOS would detect malware on PDF attachments.

You can scan attachments from the Mail.app.

You can find more information in the VirusBarrier User Manual, found here:

http://www.intego.com/manuals/en/vbios/mobile/index.html

Kind Regards,

Intego Support Team"

I think the Macworld review did not accurately capture the function of Intego's App.

There are mixed reviews in the App store for this App.

However, this company constantly upgrades their VirsuBarrier for the Mac so I expect it to upgrade their iPhone App.

It is good to hear that you are using some sort of protetion for your computer. There is still a risk you could send a file to someone whom does not.

Also the MacWorld article did not seem to accurately capture all the functionality of this product in how it would protect your iPhone.

From Intego's web pages:

Due to the secure design of iOS, it is not possible to scan files automatically or to run scheduled scans. VirusBarrier iOS is an “on-demand” detection system that lets users scan files when they want to, or before passing them on to friends and associates.

VirusBarrier iOS offers the following features on demand:

• Scans of files received by e-mail, on remote locations, or on iOS devices
• Scans files for Mac, Windows and Unix viruses and malware
• Scans files for spyware, Trojan horses, adware, hacker tools, dialers, keyloggers and more
• Scans ZIP archives
• Repairs infected files
• Scans email attachments*, files downloaded from Safari*, and files accessed by applications supporting inter-app file transfers*.
• Scans remote locations in the cloud, such as Dropbox, iDisks and WebDav disks
• Scans websites for known phishing URLs, web threats, and malware hosting
• Automatically updates malware definitions
• Completes scans in the background
• Keeps logs of scans
• Includes a 1-year subscription to Intego’s market-leading malware definitions, generally updated twice a week (more if there are immediate threats discovered)

* Supported formats for inter-app file transfer: Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, PDFs, HTML files, JavaScript files, Windows executables (.exe), Windows .dll files, and others.

VirusBarrier iOS uses malware definitions that are updated regularly. When users initially purchase VirusBarrier, the program includes a 12-month subscription to Intego’s malware definition updates. Subscription renewals will be available at $1.99 per year via an in-app purchase.

System Requirements

• An iPhone, iPad or iPod touch running iOS 4.0 or later

Your reply is non-sensical. The app is in Apple App store so by definition it would not "jailbreak" the phone.

Do you have any facts about the software to add to this discussion?

Yes. It's a waste of money and memory.

When you say "it's a waste of money and memory", that is an opinion and not a fact.

A fact would be how much memory the app used. A fact would be how much money it costs.

For the record, I purchased the VirusBarrier app this morning to try it out on the iPhone and let you know my factual experience.

1) It costs $2.99. If it catches something - malware or anything over the next year, I would not call it a waste of money in my opinion. If nothing happens, I would consider it insurance.

2) I tested an email message with a PDF attachment to see how this operated.

Due to Apple's iOS, the method that it uses to re-direct the PDF file to be scanned on the iphone is cumbersome in my opinion. One has to select a menu button to see the "Open in VirusBarrier" button. I found this was available only after I had already opened the PDF file on the iphone so it was visible.

I emailed Intego to see is they could talk to apple to include this feature in the iOS directly to make this more usefull and automated. I also asked them if any of the features are automated when selecting something to open.

I have yet to test it using Safari to browse to a web site that should be blocked if it has a phishing scheme or malware, etc..

3) Without automation, I would say this VirusBarrier App would be more useful with those using the iPad and editing/saving documents in its memory in my opinion. I don't see anyone editing documents on an iPhone.

Otherwise, Apple's iOS may limit the sales of this app due to the lack of automation.

The way iOS is implemented on the phone, unless it's jailbroken, there's not a practical method of getting a virus to execute on the phone unless it's passed through Apple's vetting process undetected. Unsigned code won't execute, so you can't download something and get a virus that way. You can't even try to open something in a DropBox and get a virus.

There are anti-virus applications for iOS phones (like VirusBarrier), but their purpose is not so much to protect the phone from viruses, but rather to detect viruses in e-mail attachments and documents that could affect other systems. Why would you care about that? It gives you a method to determine if it is safe to forward or distribute a message or file. In fact, most Mac and Linux antivirus tools exist for the purpose of protecting Windows users from viruses and that's not a bad idea, particularly in a business environment where there's likely to be many Windows client machines.

If you are looking for an antivirus application to protect your iPhone, there's really nothing, nor is there a known mechanism to attack an iPhone with a virus (unless the iPhone is jailbroken). You should be much more concerned with applications and how they handle your personal information (for example, if they can access your address book, Facebook, etc.).

If you are looking for something to vet documents before they are forwarded to Windows users, something like VirusBarrier or similar are a solution - perhaps not as convenient as on a computer, but effective.

Wow! A sensible response in this otherwise barren thread. Thanks, JD!