Security vendor Symantec is to launch a new mobile phone app security product. The big idea is to prevent viruses using corporate smartphones to access networks.

Symantec tells us it is working with carriers, handset manufacturers and software vendors to ensure data held in smartphones and the systems they access are not at the mercy of rogue phone apps.

The software uses the same algorithm already used by the Norton 360 security suite to build a live database of reputable mobile apps. The database will be housed in the cloud and will be customisable according to corporate policy.

Users will then be able to download and use applications knowing they have a high reputation score. Apps already downloaded may show a warning
or be centrally disabled by an IT department if their reputation score changes.

Of course it is not clear if a mobile phone has ever been used as an attack vector on a site. But it is jolly nice that Symantec have come up with a product for corporates to buy just in case.