During the holidays, the most popular gifts given or received were mobile devices and according to Google’s Andy Rubin, there were 3.7 million Android devices activated between December 24 and 25.

But here’s the troubling fact: more kids and teenagers own mobile devices.  According to Nielsen, a typical teenager generates an average of 3,417 messages per month.  This means that kids and teens spend most of their time on their mobile devices and this concern parents.  Parents always want what’s best for their kids and they would do everything they can, even invade their kids’ privacy, just to keep them safe.

But privacy is important, we all know that, even kids value their privacy.  And snooping parents will just result in angry teens.  This is exactly what Norton aims to address when they launched their new, free app –  Norton Safety Minder for Android, which allows parents to keep track of what their kids are doing on their mobile phones through Norton Online Family.

Parents can now monitor what their kids are up to on their phone as they do for their home PC, but the difference is that the kid knows what you are doing.  How, you ask? Simple; when the Norton Safety Minder is running, an app icon will appear on their device.  Norton hopes that this would encourage open conversation between parents and their kids about the importance of online safety.

A premier subscription to Norton Online Family allows access to the following Parental Control Features:

• Online Activity Reporting: Tracks your kids’ online activities including ALL websites they visit or attempt to visit, their entire search history, whom they text, and what they say.
• Web Monitoring & Blocking: Lets you turn Web monitoring on or off and put a parental block on specific sites or types of sites that you feel are inappropriate for your kids.
• Text Message Monitoring (with Norton Online Family Premier Only): Shows you whom your kids are texting with and what they say. Lets you choose whom your kids can exchange messages with.
• Multi Media Message Monitoring (with Norton Online Family Premier Only): Show parents who their kids are exchanging MMS messages with and when they were exchanged. Parents can also decide who their kids can exchange messages with, by designating whether certain contacts are blocked, monitored or unmonitored.
• App Monitoring (with Norton Online Family Premier Only): Gives you the ability to see which apps your kids have installed and uninstalled so you can keep it “kid-friendly.”

It’s not just creepy guys calling or texting kids that parents should be worried about when talking about mobile devices.  Aside from predators, kids and even adults, can become victims of malware through careless app downloads.

About a week ago, Symantec and Lookout Mobile Security published their findings regarding the  Apperhand SDK found in some Android apps.  Symantec stated that it’s malware but Lookout argued that it’s an aggressive adware, which, in the end, Symantec agreed with Lookout.  But the point here is, people fall victim because of careless app downloading.  It doesn’t follow that because an app is free you download it without thinking twice.

While there was much confusion over the Apperhand SDK, Symantec’s recently uncovered another wave of malicious apps, and these Trojans escape security software detection by mutating.  As Android Market dangers continue to rise, more security services push their products to stay in line with increasingly competent malware makers.

About the same time as the Symantec-Lookout debate, McAfee launched the Mobile Security 2.0 for Android, BlackBerry and Symbian devices.
The security suite offers:

• Location & SIM Tracking: Locate your mobile device on a map; Remotely lock your mobile device to prevent misuse; Remotely wipe your personal data to protect your privacy; Continue to track your device, even if the SIM is replaced!
• 24-7 Anti-Virus Protection: Detects and removes viruses and spyware without affecting your device’s performance; Automatically scans all apps, messages,memory card, and more; For Android users: Blocks against risky mobile websites to protect against phishing and scams.
• Backup & Restore: Back up your data from your device or remotely on the web; Access your data online from anywhere; Restore your data to a new device.

But keep this in mind: it doesn’t matter how many security app you on your mobile device if you would just keep downloading apps from untrustworthy sources as well as visiting unsecured sites.  Be a real “smart”-phone owner. ;)