McAfee signs cellular anti-virus deal

M-Systems Flash Disk Pioneers Ltd. and anti-virus giant McAfee signed a partnership agreement on Sunday that will protect the new MegaSIM from viruses.

M-Systems' MegaSIM, unveiled in February at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, boasts 512 MB of memory -- 8,000 times more than current SIM cards can offer. Because of the increased memory, the phones have increased capacity to surf the Internet and send and receive e-mail -- capabilities that also leave the phones prone to viruses.

The new McAfee software is the first to be developed "from scratch" specifically for SIM cards, according to a McAfee company statement. M-Systems will integrate the software to protect the phones from Trojan horses and viruses into all its MegaSIM cards, the statement said.

"We're pleased with this partnership, which was created in the wake of the dawning of the third generation (of cellular phones)," Mediterranean Regional Director of McAfee Doron Dreyer said via the statement.

"This field demands a special depth of cooperation (between McAfee and M-Systems) and allows us to enter a new market, where in these first stages we have to raise consciousness about this subject (of virus protection for phones)," Dreyer continued.

The anti-virus software will also be integrated into M-Systems' U3 platform, a third-generation USB port, the statement said.

Copyright 2006 by United Press International