360 Mobile Security

CNET Editors' review

by: Eddie Cho on June 11, 2013

360 Mobile begins installation with a standard EULA menu. The first thing we noticed was how clean the process looked; Mobile Security walks you through a fancy but minimal tour that previews what 360 is all about along a lengthy vertical flow.

Despite sporting a slightly different design direction than its older PC cousin, 360 Mobile Security retains the same focus on streamlined design, paired with some subtle indicators of your mobile security status. Depending on whether your phone is secure or not, the background menu's photo changes to reflect the state of your device.

In terms of performance and reports, 360 Mobile Security does make for a very approachable app in a category marred by complexity, ambiguity, and sometimes even questionable functionality. As 360 Mobile Security performs its scans, it'll display any detected items under one of three categorizations: malware, vulnerabilities, and protective options. Each detected item can be resolved at an individual or categorical level. Not only does 360 Mobile Security call out any detections of suspicious activity, but there's a surprising level of transparency and education for the user. Not only does each item have a description, but 360 Mobile Security will walk you through how it plans on fixing each vulnerability, as well as the type of harm a particular item can cause with its presence.

There are other useful features: Privacy Advisor contains a detailed report of which apps and processes have access to various phone data. When you select an app in Privacy Advisor, it will take you directly to the system info. page, where you can perform standard operations like force stop, clear cache and data, or uninstall the app entirely. This navigation path is arguably even easier than sifting through the stock menu.

One glaring issue we had was with the 360 Mobile Security tab staying planted on the top of the notification list. It's one thing to constantly be reminded of our device's state of protection, but we'd have appreciated the ability to swipe it away as it disrupts the native atmosphere without really much of a justifiable function.

If there's any lasting impression that 360 Mobile Security attempts to make, it's probably along the lines of "peace of mind." Its serenity-inducing design is bold but not overpowering; and it's functionally replicated through a lightweight app that not only protects, but informs in a reasonable way, making it a serious contender as a mobile guardian service.