AVG defends mobile app after removal by Microsoft

AVG is sticking by its new antivirus software for Windows Phone despite a flurry of complaints and a decision by Microsoft to remove the app from the Marketplace.

Launched a week ago, the app by AVG was designed to detect and remove viruses on Windows Phone devices. But after a couple of external experts noted that there are presently no viruses on Windows Phone and that the software seemed to violate guidelines by capturing certain private data, Microsoft pulled the app from its online store late last week.

Responding to Microsoft's move, AVG's Chief Technology Officer Yuval Ben-Itzhak issued a statement on Friday in an attempt to address the two major complaints against the app, known as AVG Mobilation.

The first complaint centered on the app improperly using a geolocation feature to track Windows Phone devices and send certain data back to AVG. Ben-Itzhak acknowledged that the app does include such a feature but claimed that its only purpose is to help a user locate a phone should it ever be lost or stolen.
"This feature was a response to requests by many mobile users and is a functionality that exists in many other mobile products," Ben-Itzhak said. "To do this effectively, AVG Mobilation is enabled to uniquely identify a device and read its geolocation by utilizing the built-in GPS system."

Further, the user has the option of keeping geotracking enabled or opting out of it and of deciding whether or not to input an e-mail address, presumably to be informed of the phone's location.
he second complaint focused on the need for a Windows Phone antivirus app in the first place if no viruses yet exist on the platform. Here, Ben-Itzhak admitted that any viruses and malware aimed at Windows Phone 7 are relatively few at this point. But he added that the app is about more than just scanning for viruses.
"Protecting valuable personal information on mobile devices is not just about scanning for viruses and other malware," he said. "It is also about protecting against outside threats that are using the Internet as an attack vector, threats such as phishing attacks for instance."

Ben-Itzhak also compared Windows Phone 7 to Android, pointing out that three years ago, Android faced few viruses and malware. But as Google's mobile OS has grown in popularity, so have the threats against it.

In a blog published early last Friday before the app's outster from the MarketPlace, AVG said that it had actually worked with Microsoft to develop the software.

"Our teams were trained by Microsoft and our software was provided to the company for review and certification prior to release," AVG noted in the blog. "We did implement a number of requested changes provided to us by Microsoft."

Despite Ben-Itzhak's defense of AVG Mobilation, the app seems to have violated certain guidelines, at least according to Microsoft. The Windows Phone maker confirmed with CNET last Friday that it's currently working with AVG to make sure the app follows Windows Phone guidelines.

"AVG's app has been removed from Windows Phone Marketplace while we work with AVG to ensure that the app is in full compliance with our published policies," Microsoft said in a statement.

"While we never like to see our products pulled from app stores, we understand that Microsoft is simply following its established process for reviewing products once questions have been raised by individuals in the marketplace," Ben-Itzhak added. "We look forward to the product's quick return to the digital shelves of the Windows Phone 7 app store."

Know More :http://www.avgmobilation.com/

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             If you cannot boot into your Operating System or you think your system is totally infected with some sort of malware and your antivirus isn’t able to wipe these intruders, then before trying to reinstall the Operating System and losing most of your precious data (in case of unbootable system), you should give any one of the below mentioned antivirus software that let you scan at the boot time.

BitDefender Rescue CD

 
BitDefender is capable of scanning and disinfecting your system at boot time. This is another one of those who states to used only when your system in not booting or is almost inoperable.
Tools included inside are a rootkit scanner, network-vulnerability scanner, partition manager, file recovery tools, wireless network monitor, network diagnostics, and Mozilla’s Firefox browser. When you boot the CD, the software tries to download anti-malware definition updates if the system has an active Internet connection.
Virus Detection is Good and gives you option to choose what to do after threats have been detected.
You can download the ISO from here and if you’re looking for a guide to create bootable rescue cd or usb check out this link.

Kaspersky Rescue Disk

Kaspersky Rescue disk is specially made to scan, disinfect, and restore infected operating system. The official website of Kaspersky states that this software should only be used when the operating system becomes unbootable. Kaspersky doesn’t need much introduction when it comes to defending systems against intrusions. The rescue disk is capable of removing any kind of intrusions and makes your system bootable again.
Graphical User Interface is quite user friendly but sometimes, cleaning enters infinite loop mode and then only option is to unplug power.
You can download the ISO from here and if you’re thinking on how to create a bootable USB drive then you can check out this link.

Quick Heal Antivirus

This is the only antivirus which comes with an inbuilt boot scanning option. Actually this is one of the things every antivirus should come with. To perform a boot time scan through Quick Heal, you have to follow these steps:

• Update Quick Heal to the latest virus definitions
• Disconnect your computer from all the networks
• Open Quick Heal – Click on Scan – Click on Boot time Scan – Click on Yes to set the Boot Time Scanner – Click on Yes to restart your computer

Quick Heal is faster in scanning compared to above solutions while I doubt about offering complete threat deletion.
If you don’t want to believe in ratings and comparisons provided in this article or by anyone, you should create a combination of all these top Antivirus Rescue disks. Shardana Antivirus Rescue Disk Utility can help you in creating a multiboot disk.

Shardana Antivirus Rescue Disk Utility [ SARDU ]

This is one of those applications that everyone should give a try. This is just a utility that lets you create bootable disk/usb from the available antivirus rescue disks and system tools. The application does not come up with any of the rescue disk or system tools.
Here is the list of supported antivirus rescue CDs and other tools:
Antivirus: Avira Antivir Rescue System, Bitdefender, Dr. Web Live CD, F-Secure, GData, Kaspersky Kav Rescue CD, Panda Safe CD and VBA Rescue
Utility: Floppy win98SE, Clonezilla, Gparted, NT password, Parted Magic, System Rescue CD, Ultimate Boot CD
Linux: Austrumi, Damn Small Linux, NimbleX, Puppy Linux, Slax
PE: LiveXP, MegalabCD, WindowsPE, UBCD4Win, VistaPE
It offers either to create an ISO image or make a bootable usb drive by combining two or three tools and rescue CDs together.
You can download Shardana Antivirus Rescue Disk Utility from here.