Mobile device user interface techniques are disclosed that can run across multiple platforms. These techniques allow for unobtrusive and intuitive communication with the user of the mobile device. For instance, one particular embodiment of the present invention allows a security product executing on a mobile device to use SMS-like messages to alert the user of the security status of the device, and more generally that security products (e.g., anti-virus, anti-spyware, email scanning, and/or intrusion detection) are actively protecting his/her device. A non-platform-user-interface dependent means of providing such alerts is also provided.