If you think about it, we carry our entire lives in our phones. There are pictures from the family vacation and of loved ones, personal text messages, notes and reminders, contact list, passwords and account details. Suffice it to say, the information is not public and you’d like to keep it that way. Imagine then, if you are the victim of a hostile takeover by a virus on your phone. It could be a Trojan that sends texts that inflate your bill or something more serious that shuts down your phone, resulting in loss of information.

Luckily, help is around the corner in the form of simple and free(you have to pay for the Premium version in some cases) security apps.

• 1. McAfee Mobile Security

Desktop owners must be familiar with this powerful app. It is one of the best players in the market, offering unlimited backup and using cloud computing to do so. A downside could be the frequent reminders it seems to love.

• 2. Lookout for Android

Custom made for the mobile User Interface, this app comes built with firewall, backup, remote control options and app scanners, along with a potent antivirus.

• 3. Bitdefender Mobile Security

Not as brilliant as the first two on our list, this is great to start off with, if you cannot make up your mind about security apps. It is unobtrusive and user-friendly, but do remember to move up to more powerful apps, once you’ve tried this one out.

• 4. TrustGo Antivirus and Mobile Security 1.0.6

A great app for your Android phone, it has a powerful search engine that categorizes apps according to threat levels, making for safer downloads. So before you add something to your device, check this one out.

• 5. F-Secure Mobile Security 7.6

Brought to you by the famous F-Secure Labs, this antivirus protection is good news for parents, crammed as it is with parental controls. This makes for better sleep at night!

• 6. IntegoVirusBarrier

Used on Apple devices, this application scans files and attachments on your phone, keeping you safe from downloadable malware.

• 7. NQ Mobile Vault

If your phone is public property, then the Vault will keep all your information private. That’s safer photos, texts, contacts and videos. Better sleep, anyone?

• 8. LastPass Password Manager

This tool has such a huge fan following, you’d think it does more than store passwords! But the service not just stores passwords, but also decrypts them and then fills them in when you browse on your PC. Now with Premium, you get to do this on your mobile phone. If you’re an Android user, tryKeeper 5.0 and iPhone users can try Dashlane. But LastPass is way ahead of the game, so do check it out.

• 9. iLocalis

God forbid your iPhone is stolen, you can use this app to find the location of your phone. You can also use it to delete data, place calls, record audio and lock your phone, using remote access.

• 10. Untested but good apps

Trend Micro Longevity Battery Saver promises to increase battery life, K9 Web Protection Browser, offered by the old-timer prevents virus attacks and other awful things and Norton Snap QR Code Reader searches for virus in bar codes and ensures websites don’t make themselves comfortable in your device, unless invited.

Use these simple ways to ensure your phone and all the valuable information in it is safe and secure.

This is a guest post by Mark Bennett of acquiweb.com, a site that offers savings and current information on comcast cable, as well as Comcast.com services.