[App Fridays] Meet JioSecurity, an antivirus and data privacy app developed by Reliance and Norton

Cybersecurity is one of the fastest-growing segments in technology today. 

Given the number — and the aftermath — of cybercrimes in recent years, that is hardly surprising. In India alone, cybersecurity is estimated to be a $3 billion market by 2022, according to PwC and the Data Security Council.

But, gone are the days when one had to buy expensive software and spend hours installing it to protect their machines. With technology consumption increasingly shifting to mobile devices, security comes in bite-sized solutions now. 

Meet JioSecurity, a free antivirus and device monitoring application, developed by Reliance Industries in partnership with security software giant Norton.

The app is exclusive to Jio SIM users (there are 360 million of them), but the subscription version can support up to 10 devices, which can be on any network. 

JioSecurity is compatible with devices running Android 4 or above. It has recorded over 10 million downloads on Google Play Store, and has been rated 4.5 out of 5.

The app helps you monitor all the other apps installed on your smartphone and suggests real-time safety measures and actions. As soon as you log in with your Jio ID, the app scans everything on your device and quickly displays a Privacy Report Card. 

The App Advisor feature can identify risks even before you download an app from Google Play Store, and then neatly categorise all downloads under privacy risk, high data/battery consuming, and safe apps.

JioSecurity also helps you ward off trojans, malware, and ransomware. Its Web Protection feature tracks your browsing activity and alerts you of malicious websites. 

You can also use app locks to safeguard your private data. Apps can be locked with passwords, PINs, or screen patterns.  

In case the device is lost or stolen, JioSecurity’s advanced anti-theft features allows you to locate the phone on a map, set off ‘scream’ alarms, remotely lock, and wipe all the information stored in it.

You can do this by logging into the JioSecurity website with your Jio ID and password.

There are a few incremental features too. These include Call Blocking (that lets you stop unwanted calls and messages), Junk Clean (which removes obsolete/residual files and frees up storage on your device), WiFi Scan (that checks whenever you connect to public WiFi systems), and Link Guard (that scans every URL you receive through text messages, or emails and lets you know if it is safe or not).

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Verdict: a comprehensive mobile security solution

JioSecurity competes with AVG, Avast, Kaspersky, Clean Master, Norton Clean, Kaspersky, and others in the mobile security market. But, most of its peers are freemium services, with their most compelling features kept behind a paywall.  

Reliance, on the other hand, has made its security offering fully free, and packed it with a plethora of features. It practically eliminates the need for users to have different apps for different tasks - cleaning, storage, scanning, call blocking, etc. 

JioSecurity is an end-to-end mobile solution. It claims to protect smartphones from “10 million malicious apps and 17 million apps with privacy leaks”. And, it can also “save your phone from 500,000 high data consuming apps”, the company claims.

Given Jio’s enormous reach and technical prowess, we aren’t doubting the claims. User reviews and testimonials have also been positive, with the app’s device recovery and remote locking feature gaining particular praise. 

However, there have been reports of crashes on some OnePlus and Motorola handsets, but nothing that a software update cannot fix. If you’re an Android user who has longed for a Find My iPhone-like app, then JioSecurity is your best bet.

(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)

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