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Lookout keeps an eye on mobile-device security (photos)

San Francisco start-up Lookout aims to keep mobile devices--and their data--safe.

CNET Reviews staff
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1 of 6 James Martin/CNET

Lookout

San Francisco start-up Lookout is launching this week. Shown here is co-founder and CEO John Hering at the company's offices in downtown San Francisco.

The Lookout software runs on mobile phones, offering antivirus and firewall protection, as well real-time cloud-based backup, the ability to locate missing devices, and manage many devices. The service is currently in private beta in more than 170 countries across 400 mobile networks, says Hering.

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2 of 6 James Martin/CNET

Lookout

The service will be offered publicly on a subscription basis in early 2010 and an enterprise version will come later in 2010 or early 2011. Pricing will be announced later.
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3 of 6 James Martin/CNET

Nuclear option

The data that Lookout manages is backed up in real time, and the user can go back in time to restore a device to its configuration from any date in the past. In the event of a lost device, users have the option of locking the phone or nuking the data from the phone, preventing it from being accessed by anyone else.
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4 of 6 James Martin/CNET

fuzzing machine

Hering stands at the fuzzing cluster, a machine the company designed to test vulnerabilities and record diagnostics on multiple mobile phones simultaneously.
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5 of 6 James Martin/CNET

the fuzzing machine connected

Lookout's software runs on many devices. The fuzzing cluster connects phones from different manufacturers and that run different operating systems.
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6 of 6 James Martin/CNET

Kevin Mahaffey, John Hering

Kevin Mahaffey (left), co-founder and CTO, and John Hering, co-founder and CEO, at their recently opened offices in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood. They are hoping the luck of the previous occupant--Twitter--rubs off on them.

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