The app – the Sophos Security Threat Monitor – is billed as drawing together all of SophosLabs existing information streams, including the company's hourly updates on the latest security threat vectors, and present them on the iPhone screen in a drill-down dashboard format.

Infosecurity notes that the free app includes details of the top ten threats at any given time, as well as graphic representations on the latest trending threats split into email, spam and web-based threat statistics.

One interesting feature is a maps facility that shows the threat vector information in the context of zoomable Google Maps.

According to Sophos, the interactive map allows users to see where in the world the latest threats are appearing, and even the latest subject lines being used in spam campaigns.

Announcing the new iPhone app, Graham Cluley, Sophos' senior technology consultant, said that people are spending less and less time chained to their desks, and an app like this gives users access to the very latest security information, wherever they are.

"Sophos Security Threat Monitor is updated hourly by our analysts based around the world. Rather than merely providing text-based statistics, we've made it easy for users to understand the latest malware attacks, with alerts and information delivered straight to their iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad", he said.