Many antivirus apps provide additional features to boost your smartphone’s safety. They could include an account manager for passwords that can help protect your login credentials, VPN functionality to enhance your security and privacy and tools to assist you in locating or remotely erase stolen phones.

Most antivirus services scan your phone regularly to check for the signatures of malware that could have infected your device. Typically, they run these checks on a schedule that you choose and will inform you if any threats are found. They will also examine your Wi-Fi connection to ensure that you’re not connecting with unsecure networks which could expose your personal data to attackers.

Depending on the provider, some antiviruses might have additional features, such as anti-theft protection and call blocking. Kaspersky, for example, provides a feature that allows you to take three photos of the person who is trying to access your device. It also allows users to appsguide.org/scanguard-antivirus-reviews lock or wipe it remotely. Other services also have system tune-up features that can eliminate junk files and accelerate your device, while others include tools that alert you to dangerous applications or settings.

A good way to gauge how well a security service protects your device is to determine how it scores in the protection rankings of independent testing labs. Some of these rankings are based on the number of threats found, while others consider things like how fast the service can detect threats and then eliminates them. Some services also go above and beyond by providing features like the money back guarantee and 24/7 customer assistance.