As we tend to say at the start of any review of Bitdefender antivirus, the company has an enviable track record when it comes to the effectiveness of its software.

Now, it has given its Android app – Bitdefender Mobile Security – a major upgrade. A new feature called App Anomaly Detection has been added, and it’s available immediately. What it means is that – unlike rival Android antivirus – Bitdefender is able to monitor what the apps on your phone are doing all the time and instantly warn you if there’s any suspicious behaviour.

Most Android antivirus scans apps when you install them, but there’s a drawback to this approach. The criminals who make malware know how to avoid detection in the Google Play security checks, and how they can make the malicious code in their apps “lie dormant” for a while to ensure that any Android antivirus doesn’t pick up on it either.

With this new App Anomaly Detection, which Bitdefender says is an industry first, Android devices are protected from rogue apps that could try to take over your accounts, steal your identity and you money.

In the last year, Bitdefender identified dozens of Android applications (which collectively had millions of downloads in the Google Play store) that turned malicious after users installed them, with some acting as delivery mechanisms for mobile banking trojans that steal users’ login credentials.

“Cybercriminals exploit users’ inherent trust of popular app stores to get more downloads and spread their mobile malware further,” said Bitdefender’s Ciprian Istrate. “While behavior-based detection technologies have been available on desktop platforms, Bitdefender App Anomaly Detection marks an industry first for the Android ecosystem, that takes malware protection to a new level capable of protection consumers against increasingly sophisticated mobile malware, scams, and trojan applications.”

If you already have Bitdefender Mobile Security on your Android phone, you simply need to update the app to get the new feature, which joins others including Scam Alert and Chat Protection.

And if you don’t have it, you can install it from the Google Play Store. It’s available as an Android-only subscription, but it’s better value if you get it as part of Bitdefender Total Security or Premium Security, which includes protection for Windows, Mac and iPhone as well.