Baidu enters smartphone security software market
Internet giant's launch of Mobile Guardian is a shot across the bow of its rival, Qihoo 360
Baidu, China's largest internet-search services provider, has introduced its own security software for Android-based smartphones, putting rival Qihoo 360 Technology squarely in its crosshairs.
It is also poised to intensify Baidu's competition with Qihoo, which started in 2005 as a supplier of anti-virus software online and expanded to become a strong No2 internet search provider in China last year. Analysys International said Baidu had a combined 72.1 per cent share of the country's desktop and mobile search market at the end of September, followed by Qihoo with a 14.2 per cent share.
Zhang Lei, the general manager at Baidu's mobile-security product team, said Mobile Guardian was designed to fight "a deteriorating security environment for Android smartphone users in China", where 70 per cent of about 100,000 virus-carrying mobile apps were found to be charging users a fee without their knowledge.
"This year, 14 million users were affected and the direct losses amounted to 70 million yuan [HK$89 million]," he said.
Mobile Guardian scans for malicious fee-charging apps and deletes them. It also has an "anti-scam function" to detect mobile base stations and block messages sent by fake telecommunications service providers and banks.