Sprint includes 'smartphone tracker' app in new security software

Sprint Monday debuted a host of smartphone security services as part of its Total Equipment Protection package.

One of the prominent features of the package is a smartphone tracker application that uses GPS to locate missing devices and to provide a map showing the history of places the devices have been since they've been lost. Users can also tell their smartphones to sound off alarms even if the phone is locked or on vibrate mode. Additionally, Total Equipment Protection lets users remotely wipe their contacts in their phone's address book while simultaneously backing them up online so they can be restored later.

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John Carney, Sprint senior vice president of consumer marketing, is billing the applications as "a safeguard for customers who want protection not only from loss, but misuse and unauthorized access." The application essentially delivers security basics to users for $7 per month and is available for users of BlackBerry and Android-based devices.

The features that Sprint is offering users aren't that much different from features offered on most major smartphone platforms. For instance, Android-based phones and the iPhone both now equip IT administrators with the ability to enforce password policies across devices and to remotely wipe any devices that become lost or compromised. Additionally, BlackBerry devices have the most extensive suite of security services in the industry as all data and applications on BlackBerry phones run through Research in Motion's network operations center.

Read more about anti-malware in Network World's Anti-malware section.