AVG to pre-scan Livewire's Android market
Android may not have the walled garden of the iPhone, but a new partnership between AVG and Livewire looks to make third-party markets more secure without sacrificing openness.
NEW ORLEANS--Security suite maker AVG has teamed with independent Android marketplace and mobile content provider Livewire to scan all the apps it hosts for malware before they are made available to the public, the companies announced today at CTIA. The deal will also install AVG's free Android security app Mobilation (download) on devices to scan apps after they update.
Jon Lobb, vice president of Global Business Development for mobile at AVG, said that the partnership would keep phones safe from before an app is installed through the app's updates. "It's a belt-to-bracers approach," said Lobb.
The move is not unlike the verified safe e-mail scanning service that AVG provides, which became a widely trusted method in the middle of the 2000s to mark e-mails as free of spam and phishing attempts.
Livewire isn't new to content distribution -- it specializes in selling digital apps, games, music, books, and video -- but it is new to the competitive world of Android marketplaces. "The solution we have put together with AVG provides an innovative 'clean' service for consumers," said Livewire Mobile COO David Moreau in a prepared statement.
AVG is talking to other content providers and app marketplaces about verifying app safety for them, including Vodafone, said Lobb.