Lookout Mobile Security releases app for iPhone

The company has amassed 12 million users with its Android app, now it branches out to iOS

Lookout Mobile Security made a splash with its security app for Android devices, drawing the attention of several big name investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, Accel Partners, Index Ventures, and more, raising some $76 million since the company’s founding in 2007.  Now, Lookout is announcing that it’s stepping into iOS with the launch of its new iPhone security app.

The free app, which is available in the App Store today, provides everything from security, backup and restore, device tracking, management, and more.  The app’s security features include a system advisor, which notifies you when your software is outdated or your settings put you at risk, including letting you know if your phone has been jailbroken.  The company says the software may even include fixes to security flaws in previous versions.

Other security features include alerts when you’re about to connect to an unsecure Wi-Fi network, as well as location services that show you which apps can access your location. 

The app also allows you to locate a missing or stolen device (or a device that you thought was stolen but was actually dropped under the seat of your car) on a map, or you can sound an alarm on the phone to see if it’s nearby.

The Lookout app also allows you to backup and restore your data over-the-air, even if you haven’t gotten around to syncing your phone.  Data can be restored to the same iPhone, a different iPhone, or an iPad.

And the Lookout website allows you to manage and track all of your iPhone and Android devices from one dashboard—whether it’s an iPhone, Android phone, iPad, or Android tablet.

The app will likely bring some peace of mind to iPhone users, 93% of whom say they have concerns about the security of the data stored on their phones.  Additionally, one-third don’t regularly sync their phones, and four out of ten are concerned about the security of public Wi-Fi, according to Lookout.

Until now, Lookout’s security app has only been available to Android users, and it has already amassed a pretty impressive user base.  Today, Lookout has 12 million users across 400 mobile networks in 170 countries.  By comparison, when we covered the company last December, it had only four million users.

Will the company’s growth rate be the same among iPhone users?  One of the reasons that Lookout’s user base has grown so steeply among Android users could be because Android devices are more susceptible to malware and spyware than iPhone devices.  A recent report released by Lookout found that three out of ten Android users will be hit with malware this year.

And attacks are increasing.  In the first half of 2011, the number of unique apps with malware increased to 400 apps from 80.

That isn’t to say that iOS devices aren’t susceptible to attacks.  Lookout claims that iOS devices are more likely to be hit with commercial spyware apps developed specifically for jailbroken devices.  So looks like it's time to get your security on.