Trend Micro announced Mobile App Reputation, a technology that can automatically identify, analyze and rate mobile applications for issues that could include malware, potential theft of private data and system resource abuse including battery, memory, and bandwidth.


By analyzing the underlying code and the websites that the app connects to, and by dynamically analyzing the app behavior, Trend Micro can correlate the information found with the vast amount of security information already at its disposal to identify and block potentially dangerous and resource-hogging mobile apps.

Similar to Google Bouncer Service, which is focused on malware detection in Google's Android Market, Trend Micro's Mobile App Reputation analyzes additional mobile app attributes and also works with 3rd party Android app stores.

"We have been working in the mobile space for many years, so using our recognized expertise in cloud security to protect the mobile ecosystem is a logical progression. The flexible nature of this technology allows for many possibilities both now and in the future-- potential 3rd party app market and product integrations are just some of the short-term initiatives we are working on," said Raimund Genes, CTO, Trend Micro.

"We already provide our technology to 3rd party app stores who are looking for an automated procedure to vet the applications they want to distribute. Integration of mobile application reputation could help to protect their users, while also helping them to provide upfront information about potential security, privacy and resource impact of certain apps before they are downloaded."

Initially scanning Android and Symbian applications, the technology will continue to add scanning of additional platforms over time. "We currently track and monitor over 250,000 applications, and have the capacity to add another 5,000+ per day as new apps and app updates are released. Our intent is to be able to provide the largest and fastest source of critical information to secure and enhance the mobile ecosystem. Obviously other application platforms are important to this goal," added Mr. Genes.