With over 66% of employees using smartphones for work, mobile security software has become more crucial than ever. Imagine the potential for data breaches that mobile devices have in a world where mobile banking, remote work, and bring-your-own-device (BYOD) models are fast becoming the norm.
These innovations have increased the chances of employees accessing sensitive company assets using devices compromised from inadvertent visits to malicious sites, use of unprotected Wi-Fi connections, or downloads of corrupted documents. In light of this, enterprises must employ robust mobile security software to protect mobile devices and the critical assets they access.
To help you make informed choices, this article highlights the top eight mobile security software, their features, ratings, pros, and cons. It also reviews key considerations in choosing the ideal mobile security software.
What is Mobile Security?
Mobile security is the practice of safeguarding mobile endpoint devices—like smartphones, tablets, and the sensitive assets they store or access—from threats and vulnerabilities. Also referred to as wireless security, the term encompasses the tools, technologies, and best practices combined to detect anomalous behavior and forestall attacks at the data, application, and network levels.
Mobile endpoint security includes applying mechanisms like encryption, strong passwords, strict access controls, and anti-malware to protect personal and enterprise data, intellectual property, financial information, and other critical assets.
Mobile security companies focus on preventing and mitigating mobile security risks including identity theft, unauthorized access, phishing attacks, man-in-the-middle (MiTM) attacks, data compromise, and other critical risks identified by OWASP.
Need for Mobile Security Software
Endpoint devices, including smartphones, account for 9 out of 10 (90%) successful cyberattacks. This essentially shows that while mobile device manufacturers have designed mobile operating systems with built-in security controls, like OS hardening and app store security, your Android and iOS devices are still not foolproof against cyberattacks and data leakage.
For one, the use of outdated software and unsecured Wi-Fi networks can render these built-in defenses ineffectual, exposing your mobile devices to otherwise preventable risks like supply chain vulnerabilities and cryptographic failures.
Additionally, mobile device users commonly “jailbreak” or “root” their smartphones to eliminate software provider restrictions that prevent them from downloading apps from sources other than the app store. While jailbreaking (for iOS) and rooting (for Android) enhance flexibility, they also increase the risk of inadvertently downloading compromised apps, putting sensitive information at risk.
Then, there is the fact that mobile devices are access points for numerous online services, including banking, messaging, and emailing applications, which are prime targets for cyberattacks.
Imagine the damage this scenario can cause: an attacker tricks your employee into clicking on a phishing link presumably sent by your organization via a messaging app. The link leads them to a hoax login page disguised as your business. The employee submits credentials that the attacker instantly uses to access and move laterally within your IT environment, possibly to steal data, inject ransomware, or conduct advanced persistent attacks.
And this is just one of many attack scenarios. Without robust mobile security, enterprises may suffer increased data breaches, cyberattacks, and compliance failures, resulting in business disruption, revenue loss, and reputational damage.
By offering capabilities like mobile device management (MDM), mobile threat defense (MTD), anti-malware, anti-ransomware, and antivirus scanning, mobile endpoint security companies mitigate these risks. So, what are the top mobile security software to choose from?
Mobile Security Software Landscape in 2025
Here is a run-through of the top 8 mobile security software based on Gartner Peer Insights ranking.
#1 SentinelOne Singularity Mobile
SentinelOne Singularity Mobile is a sophisticated mobile endpoint security solution. It is part of the SentinelOne Singularity extended detection and response (XDR) suite, which includes endpoint detection and response (EDR) and network protection, in addition to mobile endpoint security.
The unified XDR solution also integrates with the SentinelOne cloud-native application protection (CNAPP), offering correlated insights across endpoint protection, identity management, cloud security, data security posture management, and more.
Powered by robust AI/ML, SentinelOne Singularity Mobile offers enterprises unparalleled mobile endpoint threat detection and response capabilities. Its AI engine continuously learns your environment and correlates threat data collected from your mobile devices, the open internet, and the SentinelOne up-to-date threat intelligence database to swiftly detect known and emerging threats.
Even more, SentinelOne not only covers your mobile devices, but it also protects all your network-wide devices, leaving no blind spots. It also lets you manage mobile device security from the console as your Mac, Linux, Windows, and Kubernetes security, ensuring faster and better-correlated threat detection. Check out this tour video to see how SentinelOne Singularity Mobile works.
Platform at a Glance
Merging its potent behavioral analytics capabilities with an advanced autonomous AI model, SentinelOne extends mobile threat detection beyond the regular. Here is how:
- SentinelOne covers threat prediction, advanced attack path mapping, and detection of innocuous human activities with the potential to put enterprise assets at risk.
- Offering a zero-touch deployment and user-friendly interface, SentinelOne Singularity Mobile simplifies mobile endpoint security and mobile threat detection for businesses of all sizes.
- SentinelOne runs in the background, continuously securing your mobile devices from threats with zero human input, next-to-no memory, bandwidth, and battery impact on mobile devices.
- SentinelOne is a 24/7 mobile security software, hunting threats non-stop, whether devices are connected to the internet or not or users are at work or asleep.
- SentinelOne prioritizes a privacy-first approach that secures both personal and company data on mobile devices without violating user privacy rights.
- Its broad OS coverage ensures SentinelOne Singularity Mobile can cater to enterprise needs across various industries and use cases, including tech, finance, education, manufacturing, and remote work.
Features:
- Unsecured connection detection: Detects and blocks rogue connections, and user connections to unprotected or compromised Wi-Fi
- Top-down network security: Is an effective defense against Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) downgrading, packet sniffing, packet tampering, malware injection, man-in-the-middle attacks, and other network threats
- Multimedia protection: Uncovers threats in numerous file formats, including images, videos, texts, etc. It also detects fileless malware
- Integration: Integrates with various operating systems—including iOS, Android, and Chrome OS, and all major mobile device management vendors to enable hassle-free visibility into enterprise-wide endpoint device vulnerabilities. It also integrates seamlessly with SentinelOne Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) for real-time, in-depth threat investigation
- Jailbreak, Rooting, and Vulnerability Detection: Analyzes mobile devices for jailbreaking and root access, app vulnerabilities, outdated software, intrusive permissions, and unwanted actions, protecting your enterprise from attacks, unauthorized data access, and sensitive data theft or loss
Core Problems that SentinelOne Eliminates
- Threat response: Lack of or slow threat response is a common challenge with mobile security software, often resulting in analyst fatigue and leaving exploitable gaps in enterprise networks. With its AI-automated threat defense, SentinelOne halts threats in real-time, before attackers can exploit them
- Layered security: While many mobile security companies detect threats at a single layer, SentinelOne correlates threats across multiple layers, including apps, networks, data, OS, and more
- Online-only threat detection: Unlike many mobile security solutions, where threat detection stops once the device is off the internet, SentinelOne never stops hunting threats, whether your device is online or not, because threat actors never stop trying either
- Compliance management: Ensuring that mobile devices align with in-house policies and regulatory frameworks like PCI-DSS, GDPR, and HIPAA can be a major headache. SentinelOne’s holistic mobile and endpoint protection approach simplifies compliance
Testimonials
“…It has significantly improved our mobile security. The product effectively protects against malicious threats at the device, network, and application levels by detecting anomalous behavior and analyzing indicators of compromise. Its ability to gather threat intelligence from both devices and external sources enhances our protection. The cloud based analysis engine provides real time insights, ensuring our mobile environment stays secure. Overall, the MTD solution has been invaluable in safeguarding our mobile devices and supporting a secure mobile workforce.” Organization in IT Services; Income <50M USD
“The most important aspect of the solution is that the load on the machine is not very high. It doesn’t take up battery resources.The solution prevents ransomware and other threats. So far, it is working brilliantly. The dashboards and UI are user-friendly, as is the ability to configure as needed. It seems to have a lot more capabilities. The XDR capabilities, in particular, look very strong… The AI engine it has is excellent…” Prince Joseph, Group Chief Information Officer at NeST Information
Check out what users are saying about SentinelOne Singularity Mobile on Peerspot and Gartner Peer Insights.
#2 Cortex from Palo Alto Networks
Cortex XDR Mobile is an extended detection and response solution for mobile devices developed by Palo Alto Networks. The Cortex mobile security software is part of a suite of tools, including endpoint detection and response (EDR) and network detection and response (NDR). Cortex XDR Mobile combines behavior-based threat detection with AI-powered antivirus, seamlessly uncovering risks in mobile devices connected to your networks. Though this powerful combination unlocks accurate threat detection, Cortex is not exactly plug-and-play, typically requiring a steep learning curve and some deployment overhead.
Features:
- Mobile threat visibility: Automatically discovers mobile endpoints in your network to uncover rogue devices and control device access
- Incident-engine: Cuts alerts significantly by grouping related incidents, thereby minimizing alert fatigue
- Simplified root cause analysis: Pinpoints the source of threats detected to enhance root cause and reduce analyst fatigue
- In-process shellcode protection: Thwarts shell code execution attacks that attackers deploy to evade or disable mobile security tools
- Malware protection: Detects infected files before they can compromise mobile devices and sensitive data
- Privacy-by-Design: Allows users to configure the scope of alerts that backend incident response teams can view, protecting user privacy, especially in BYOD scenarios
- OS support: Offers native support for iOS and Android devices
To know what the user experience with Cortex from Palo Alto Networks has been like so far, check out Gartner Peer Insight reviews.
#3 Microsoft Defender for Endpoint
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Mobile Devices is Microsoft Azure’s mobile threat defense software built to prevent and respond to threats in real time. An integral part of Azure’s two-tiered endpoint security solution, the mobile security software offers enterprise-grade threat detection, web protection, and network security. Its ability to unify all alerts into the Microsoft Defender dashboard provides analysts with instant, contextualized insights into endpoint threats. Still, Microsoft warns that its mobile security software does not integrate fully with third-party endpoint solutions, and an attempt to deploy both together may result in malfunctions.
Features:
- Compatibility: Supports Android and iOS devices
- Jailbreak scanning: Scans iOS devices (only) for evidence of jailbroken devices and devices with compromised apps, then blocks them from connecting to enterprise networks
- Malware protection: Safeguards Android devices (only) from malware-infected apps
- Privacy controls: Lets users configure how specific threat types—including malware and phishing alerts—are reported to prevent alerts from exposing sensitive personal information
- Vulnerability management: Offers remediation guidance for various OS and app vulnerabilities
- Network security: Protects against a wide range of network threats, including unsafe Wi-Fi connections and hoax certificates
- Conditional access: Continuously verifies that all devices connecting to your networks meet predefined rulesets and policies
For more info on Microsoft Defender for Endpoint on Mobile, check out users’ feedback on Gartner Peer Insights.
#4 Crowdstrike Endpoint Security
Falcon for Mobile is a mobile security software designed by Crowdstrike as part of its EDR suite. Purpose-built for mobile-specific threats, Falcon for Mobile discovers and maps threats to the MITRE ATT&CK Matrices in real-time, providing organizations with insights into the latest adversary tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs). Its ability to scan various apps and file formats, including texts, emails, browsers, and images ensures it not only uncovers malicious activity in expected places but also detects malware in URLs, QR codes, and more.
Features:
- Support: Integrates with Android 9.0 and later and iOS 15.0 and later
- Phishing protection: Blocks connections to suspicious URLs and phishing links to prevent sensitive data theft and malware injection
- Visibility: Instantly discovers all connected mobile devices and provides security reports on them in a single console
- User privacy: Avoids scanning messages, browser histories, and personal apps to protect mobile users’ personal information
- Proactive threat response: Stops jailbroken iOS devices, smartphones with spoofed identities, and malware risks from connecting to sensitive enterprise assets
- Lightweight app: Consumes minimal device battery and bandwidth, ensuring near-zero impact
Want to know if Falcon for Mobile is ideal for your use case? See user reviews and ratings.
#5 TrendMicro Vision One- Endpoint Security
Trend Micro Mobile Security for enterprises is Trend Micro’s complete mobile security software, outfitted with industry-standard mobile device management, mobile application management (MAM), mobile risk detection, and an antivirus module for Android devices. Built as part of the Trend Micro Endpoint Security solution, the mobile security software is a comprehensive threat protection solution that automates the visibility and control of mobile devices in enterprise networks.
Features:
- Unified solution: Rolls MDM, MAM, and antivirus modules into a single tool to minimize cost and complexity, eliminating the need for multiple mobile security software
- OS, Wi-Fi and web protection: Safeguards enterprises from OS vulnerabilities, detects connections to MiTM-compromised Wi-Fi, and blocks compromised websites and apps
- Proactive network security: Prevents HTTPS stripping, SSL downgrading, and other network threats
- Advanced technology: Offers predictive ML modules for detecting known and zero-day threats pre-execution
- Invasive app detection: Alerts enterprises to apps with excessive access and permissions to prevent data leakage
Find TrendMicro Mobile Security reviews and ratings on Gartner Peer Insights and Peerspot.
#6 Sophos Intercept X Endpoint
Intercept X for Mobile is Sophos’ mobile security software module. Designed as a two-tiered solution, its free version is for individual users while its paid version caters to enterprise needs. It offers a user-friendly interface that allows analysts to easily access mobile devices, apps, networks, and data threats, all in one screen.
Features:
- Privacy protection: Flags potentially unwanted applications (PUA) and invasive permissions
- Authentication: Generates OTPs using algorithms compatible with various device types to ensure comprehensive multi-factor authentication (MFA) across the board, and prevents password-based attacks
- Unobtrusive mobile security: Quietly scans mobile devices for threats, stops unsafe downloads, and blocks unprotected Wi-Fi networks without impacting device performance
- Proactive threat deterrence: Has an ML-powered deep-learning engine for detecting and blocking known and unknown threats pre-exploitation
- Jailbreak detection: Flags jailbroken iOS devices, preventing malicious apps from accessing sensitive enterprise assets
- File sanitizer: Completely wipes sensitive enterprise files from employee devices to prevent data leakage
Check out Sophos Intercept X reviews on Gartner Peer Insights and Peerspot.
#7 Symantec Endpoint Protection
Symantec Endpoint Protection Mobile (SEP Mobile), designed by Broadcom Inc., merges powerful mobile threat detection with ML-driven threat prediction. Its layered approach to mobile security ensures broad coverage, spanning OS, network, app, and data layers, leaving no blindspots for attackers to exploit.
Features:
- Crowd-sourced threat intelligence: Collects threat data from a wide range of sources, including open-source intelligence (OSINT) sources and Broadcom intelligence feeds, to ensure no threats are left undetected
- AI-driven remediation insights: Offers actionable recommendations for resolving security risks
- Policy engine: Lets you create and enforce enterprise-wide policies to control mobile device access to business-critical resources
- Integrations: Its built-in integration options include Broadcom and third-party MDM, Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), and SIEM solutions
- Network protection: Patented Active Honeypot technology for advanced threat detection via deception techniques
Find out more about Symantec’s suitability. See reviews on Gartner Peer Insights.
#8 McAfee Endpoint Security
The enterprise-grade version of McAfee’s mobile security software, McAfee Business Protection, is designed to protect mobile devices used to access enterprise assets from zero-day exploits. Its AI-powered threat protection module is an effective shield against viruses, malware, and ransomware.
Features:
- Identity protection: Keeps employee emails and messaging apps safe and running by scanning for phishing links and malicious downloads
- Native firewall: Stops hackers in their tracks with built-in and custom firewall rules
- Tracking prevention: Stops invasive website trackers from collecting sensitive data transferred through mobile devices
- Wi-Fi security: Offers threat-proof Wi-Fi encryption and automatic VPN connection for secure communications
- OS version monitoring: Scans Android and iOS devices to ensure they are always up to date
See McAfee Endpoint Security reviews and ratings on Gartner Peer Insights.
How to Choose the Right Mobile Security Software
When selecting the best-fit mobile security software, consider factors like your security needs, device ownership model, compatibility, integration capabilities, and pricing.
- Understand your security needs: Determine the most common mobile device risks your enterprise may encounter, and choose mobile security software that mitigates them. For example, if you are a healthcare organization, with health professionals regularly clerking patients on mobile devices, you want a solution that protects Wi-Fi connections and encrypts data.
- Consider device ownership: Consider the device ownership model you operate—Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) or Corporate Owned, Business Only (COBO)—and choose a mobile security software that balances comprehensive protection with employee privacy.
- Review compatibility: Before selecting, verify that the mobile security software supports all mobile device operating systems in your stack, including Chrome, Android, and iOS.
- Evaluate integration: The right mobile security software must integrate with your existing security tools, including MDMs, EDRs and SIEMs, to prevent performance failures.
- Check for multilayered security: An ideal mobile security software should natively support multilayered protection, safeguarding your device, OS, networks, apps, identity, and data from unauthorized access, identity theft, and data tampering.
- Assess mobile-tailored EDR capabilities: Mobile devices have specific risks, including jailbreaking, rooting, unprotected Wi-Fi connections, etc., that a generic EDR solution may not cater to.
- Confirm zero-day threat prevention: Verify the tool’s ability to block emerging threats in real time.
- Compare pricing vs. features: Balance the features offered with the tool’s pricing to be sure you are getting a good deal. Also, confirm that the mobile security software offers flexible, pay-per-device pricing that matches your budget.
- Consider robust support: Be sure that should you encounter problems deploying or using the tool, the provider offers 24/7 support.
- Choose a lightweight solution: To keep your device functioning optimally, check that the tool does not drain battery life or consume excessive bandwidth.
Conclusion
The increasing adoption of remote work, BYOD practices, and mobile device-for-work models have revolutionized the way employees access mission-critical resources. It has significantly complicated data governance and access controls, escalating the risks of ransomware attacks, malware injection, MiTM attacks, and data breaches.
Without control of the apps or sites employees visit and the files they download on their mobile devices, enterprises must rely on robust mobile security software to detect and respond to mobile threats before they result in breaches. That is why we have extensively discussed the top picks, their ratings, and features to help you make informed choices on which to choose.
Top of the list is best-in-class SentinelOne Singularity Mobile, a versatile solution designed specifically to address mobile risks while ensuring minimal resource consumption. An integral part of the SentinelOne Singularity XDR, the solution provides the unified threat detection and correlation capabilities you need to get instant visibility into all devices in your fleet.
SentinelOne’s layered security approach eliminates blind spots, just as its unrivaled 24/7 threat-hunting functionality halts threats regardless of whether your device is online or not. These functionalities and more are why SentinelOne remains a top solution in the Gartner Peer Insights. Request a demo to see how it works.
FAQs
1. Why do we need mobile security?
Enterprises need mobile security to protect against data breaches, identity theft, and cyberattacks that can occur when mobile devices and the sensitive assets they access are unprotected. With the rise of remote work and BYOD practices, mobile devices have become prime targets for attackers.
2. What are mobile security software, and why are they important?
Mobile security software is an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) solutions designed to protect smartphones, tablets, and other portable devices from threats. They are critical for safeguarding enterprise data and IT infrastructure when mobile devices are used to remotely access sensitive workloads.
3. What are some key benefits of mobile security software?
The key benefits of mobile security software include real-time mobile threat detection and response, Wi-Fi and network risk mitigation, data protection, and access policy enforcement. These capabilities help enterprises minimize the risk of data breaches and compliance failures.
4. How do I choose the right mobile security software for my organization?
When choosing mobile security software, consider factors like your security needs, device ownership model (BYOD or COBO), compatibility with your mobile OSes, integration with existing security tools, multilayered security coverage, mobile-specific EDR capabilities, and pricing.
5. Can mobile security software protect against all types of threats?
No. Mobile security software cannot prevent all threats. Enterprises would still require a comprehensive security stack, including EDR solutions for other endpoints, SIEM tools for threat investigation, and CSPM platforms for cloud security. The goal is to find a mobile security solution that unifies as many of these capabilities as possible to reduce cost and complexity.
6. What features should I prioritize in mobile security software?
Key features to prioritize include swift incident response, resource efficiency, zero-day threat prevention, strong network and Wi-Fi security, jailbreak/root detection, and seamless integration with your existing security tools and policies.