Intego releases malware scanner for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

It was only a matter of time until an iOS exploit reared its ugly head in public. Just last week we published an article about a PDF exploit that could give someone root access to your iOS devices. While Apple has told the press that they’re aware of the problem, they haven’t released a patch for the exploit yet. Users who are concerned about the exploit now have a couple of options: they could jailbreak and patch their devices, or they could try to find a malware scanner for their iOS device. Until recently there were no viable options for the latter, but today, Intego, the popular anti-virus company, has released VirusBarrier iOS. iPhone and iPad users can now scan files attached to e-mail messages in the cloud.

Any file stored locally, or at a remote location like MobileMe, Dropbox, web servers or WebDav servers, can be pushed through VirusBarrier iOS before being downloaded.

Updated virus definitions are available, free of charge, for 12 months. After the initial period expires, users can subscribe to a 12-month subscription package for an additional $1.99 per year, thereby giving them access to another 12 months of updated virus definitions.

Here’s a list of features from the press release:

  • Scans of files received by e-mail, on remote locations, or on iOS devices
  • Scans files for Mac, Windows and Unix viruses and malware
  • Scans files for spyware, Trojan horses, adware, hacker tools, dialers, keyloggers and more
  • Scans ZIP archives
  • Repairs infected files
  • Scans email attachments*, files downloaded from Safari*, and files accessed by applications supporting inter-app file transfers*.
  • Scans remote locations in the cloud, such as Dropbox, iDisks and WebDav disks
  • Scans websites for known phishing URLs, web threats, and malware hosting
  • Automatically updates malware definitions
  • Completes scans in the background
  • Keeps logs of scans
  • Includes a 1-year subscription to Intego’s market-leading malware definitions, generally updated twice a week (more if there are immediate threats discovered)
Joshua is the Content Marketing Manager at BuySellAds. He’s also the founder of Macgasm.net. And since all that doesn’t quite give him enough content to wrangle, he’s also a technology journalist in his spare time, with bylines at PCWorld, Macworld and TechHive.