Review: Lookout Premium for Android

Google’s Android with a market share over 40% last year is one of the top operating systems for smartphones. On one hand this is an outstanding result, on the other this also very attractive for cybercriminals. More and more threats are appearing across the Internet. In my opinion, today’s biggest problem for Android isn’t malware found at warez sites. The main problem for Google’s mobile platform are threats found in its own Android Market.

I think that you all will agree that mobile security has become a common problem nowadays . Therefore I’m putting my Lookout Premium review by Lookout, Inc.
Does the application really protect us from threats? Find out by reading our review!

Lookout in the Android Market

Protect your phone with award-winning security & antivirus from Lookout

Protect Your Phone. Get Lookout for FREE Antivirus, Phone Locator, Data Backup and more!

Lookout is the #1 Security & Antivirus App for Android. Over 10,000,000 users trust Lookout to protect their phones.

* CNET ‘Must-have app!’, PCWorld ‘5 out of 5 Stars!’, TechCrunch ‘Top 10 Best Free Apps’ *

Note: If you’re on Android (Froyo) 2.2+ and have trouble uninstalling, go to Settings -> Location & Security -> Select Device Administrators and uncheck Lookout. Contact us at support-at-mylookout.com if you have questions.

FREE FEATURES
Security:
* Antivirus: Block malware, spyware, and trojans
* Scan each app you download to make sure it is safe
* Schedule daily or weekly scans. Get automatic, over-the-air, protection against the latest threats

Find My Phone:
* Locate your lost or stolen phone on a Google map even if GPS is turned off!
* Activate a loud alarm, even if your phone’s on silent.
* Log in to myLookout.com to locate your phone from any web browser, anywhere!

Backup & Restore:
* Securely backup your contacts to myLookout.com
* Restore them to an existing phone.

PREMIUM FEATURES
Get a free trial of Lookout Premium (optional). When your trial ends, automatically return to the free version. And, no credit card is required for the free trial!

* Safe Browsing: Block phishing and malware sites from links in text messages, on the web, and more.
* Remote Lock & Wipe: Securely lock your phone if it’s lost or stolen to prevent others from accessing your phone and remotely delete sensitive data on your phone if needed.
* Privacy Advisor: Identify which apps can access your sensitive data like contacts, location, SMS text messages & identity info.
* Advanced Backup: Backup and restore photos and call history in addition to contacts. Restore them to a new device.

SECURITY UPDATES
Learn about the latest security threats at https://blog.mylookout.com, including: GGTracker, DroidDream, Zsone, Geinimi, Tapsnake, SMS Trojan, and more.

Learn more about our permissions at http://blog.mylookout.com/permissions/ and stay up to date with us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/mylookout and Twitter at http://twitter.com/lookout.

Try now and see why we have an avg rating of 4.6 stars out of 5 in the Android Market.

Easy of use
Lookout is one of the easiest mobile security solutions we have ever tried . After you sign-in or create a new account , you get a nice and clear view. The main window is divided into five sections, namely: Security, Privacy Advisor, Safe Browsing, Backup, and Missing Device. Each unit tells us about security level of this particular module. For example if we disable GPS on the device, the “Missing Device” section gives us ability to quickly turn it on. Even a user who is not familiar with mobile technology is not going to be lost. Thumbs up for Lookout, they fully earned 5 out of 5 notes .

Features

• Pure security

Lookout is designed to be a cloud AV service, so let’s get straight to malware detecting. We tried several tests, including all kinds of unwanted software. It successfully detected DroidDream, GGTracker, and passed Eicar test as well. However we were totally disappointed about detecting cracks, key generators, and a bunch of other potentially unwanted applications. Lookout found none of them – even the generic LuckyPatcher application, which is the most obvious cracking method on Android! Not to mention a well-known patcher that modifies other programs memory on the fly. We asked Lookout what methods of detecting unwanted programs they do use, and one of them mentioned by them was “dynamic behavioral analysis techniques”. Although this isn’t completely clear from our research we assume that Lookout Premium doesn’t have any sorts of behavior blocker, or the one included doesn’t do a fair job.
Moreover the Safe Browsing module does only support the default Android browser, which is disappointing as well having considered that Google’s platform has a bunch of other comprehensive web browsers. Once again we contacted Lookout to ask if they are planning to include support for other Browsers like Opera or Dolphin, with no luck either – just a plain, vague answer. We also tried to scan ports on the device and found out that several ports aren’t stealth (common ports: 135, 137, 138, 139). The suite doesn’t promise to have included any sorts of firewall, but on the other hand it’s advertised as a complete security suite. Taking both arguments into account we do not count firewall issues into the overall features mark. We miss the Lookout firewall we used to enjoy on its Windows Mobile predecessor.
We were delighted to use the Privacy Advisor , a very polished and well done privacy inspector. It’s a pity that Lookout doesn’t monitor Android settings like installing apps outside Market and doesn’t even inform us that we got a rooted device or an unofficial rom. Not everyone is tech-savvy person; not everyone knows what “rooted” mean. This is a major flaw and we cannot get over it. Surprisingly, days ago Lookout had an information link about Carrier IQ, with is in our opinion not such a great threat.

• Backup

Comparing to WinMo the suite misses Messages, Documents, and other files backup. We tried to contact Lookout Inc. to find out if they plan to enhance their backup methods on Android, but once again we didn’t get any clear answer from them. Other than that we were happy with this particular function . Sometimes a good backup might be a life saver. My friend “@cajunbob” also confirmed that Lookout Premium does a decent job transferring PIM data to a new phone, however this only applies to Windows Mobile phones. Lookout Premium licensing system currently only allows you to link two devices to one Lookout account, but we have got information from Lookout that they plan to review their licensing system soon. We’re looking forward to this.

• Lost phone

Years ago this was one of the most exiting features a phone could include. Nowadays there are plenty of apps that do detect our localization, but Lookout still does an outstanding job at that without draining the battery. The technology is based on push, so it only detects your location if you request that by going to My Lookout website. Locking and remotely wiping the device is something that every businessman could consider when picking a smartphone. Lookout premium is a great antitheft solution, but only if we have a data plan included. Make sure you have one, due to that fact that you won’t be able to wipe, locate, or scream your device using an SMS message. Of course you could try to find your lost phone if it’s connected to WiFi, but we don’t think this would be any use for you.

• Features sum up

Following detection rates for other AV solutions we rate Lookout Premium 2 out of 5 in terms of features (in this particular case: security level). To sum up, the application does protect us from trojans, viruses, and spyware; cracks, phishing sites (assuming a vast majority of users don’t use the default browser), and memory patchers will feel like they are in paradise on our beloved Android devices.

Speed
Before we talk about speed we would like to point out that the malware scanner has got no option to scan your (Micro)SD card. This is pretty disappointing, because sometimes we do store apk files on our cards. From our research it’s clear that Lookout only does scan installed packages. We didn’t notice any slowdowns during everyday usage, although we noticed lags when installing new software – not a real flaw if we aren’t installing too much. Overall our experience was positive. 4 out of 5 when it comes to speed.

Install or not
We had a hard nut to crack. On one hand the app is well thought out , but for a security suite it still lucks too many basic layers of security. Having considered all the alternatives, Lookout isn’t that bad. Some people still question AV demand on mobile platforms, while others scare us with over 400% rates in increased malware activity on those platforms. Lookout premium is a smart security solution that won’t come into your Android tenure if have a data plan, didn’t root your device, and you are sure that no one downloaded cracked games behind your back.
Seriously now, just like we mentioned before, it’s hard to give Lookout an objective rating, and therefore we can’t decide if you should or shouldn’t buy the application. In some areas Lookout performed outstanding, yet in some other it failed – it depends what you demand from a security suite.

Pros:

• Cloud based security ensures that you’re protected from recently discovered threats
• Intuitive user interface
• Battery-saving, reliable phone locating, locking, and wiping
• Wisely designed website allows us to manage our devices remotely; security report by e-mail

Cons:

• Poor or malfunctioning behavioral blocker
• Does not detect unwanted software at all
• Safe Browsing works only for default Android browser
• No firewall included