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The company will offer anti-virus software for both Symbian and Windows Mobile devices, as part of its Norton 2008 product refresh in late August.

The company claims the threat level on mobiles now justifies its own security suite. 'They [hackers] go where there's data and there's money,' says Con Mallon, regional product marketing director at Symantec. 'The mobile phone is the true consumer device at

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the moment. There's a big opportunity there, and where there's an opportunity, there's a threat.'

One such threat is handset theft, and Symantec plans to mitigate the risks by encrypting the data on the mobile phone, so that unauthorised users cannot access sensitive documents.

Mallon says the software will be distributed over-the-air, as a download or as a retail package that can be installed on your PC and synchronised on the mobile device.

Pricing details are yet to be finalised, but Mallon expects pricing to be comparable to Norton PC software. However, the company is conscious that consumers may not be prepared to stump up £40 for security software in a market where handsets worth hundreds of pounds are given away for free. 'We've got to be very careful about what we charge,' Mallon admits.

The company also has modest ambitions for its smartphone software. 'We think it will be a slow burner,' says Mallon. 'We don't think it will transform anyone's business.'