Lookout says it now has more than 1 million registered users for its smartphone security application, and it did it in just six months.
Lookout CEO John Hering says users of the app write in every day to express their appreciation for keeping their information safe. And while he respects top desktop security experts like Semantec and McAfee, the mobile world is fundamentally different and security solutions need to take into account battery life and unique threats to mobile. "There's a host of things that make it unique in terms of the threat landscape," he says.
Once an app is downloaded, Lookout's app will review it and if it looks suspicious or bad, it will recommend the user not move forward. "When an app is very bad, we quarantine it," he says, adding that spyware is a bit of a gray area in that some of it is legitimate – like kid tracking – so it isn't automatically blocked. Users are notified and then asked if it's something they want.
More than 80 percent of Lookout's users are using Android and BlackBerry, with the remaining users on Windows Mobile.
Security is something very few people understand, he says. The goal is to give them a product that is simple to install and set up. "The way Lookout looks at it, if your phone is lost or stolen, log onto our website [and] it will lock your phone."
Over the past six months, Lookout has found more than 130,000 lost or stolen phones, backed up more than 87 million photos and more than 300 million contacts.