Virus Protection

[WeakChopper]

I was in the Verizon store and one of the employees was waiting for her replacement BB to arrive. ..what happened to the old one? A virus.

I know this is a somewhat old thread now, but I had to reply to this.


I think you have to take what people at the Verizon stores say with a grain of salt. I was reading on another website someone complaining a Verizon salesperson told them their phone had a virus when it absolutely did not.
When I was looking into buying an Incredible we asked about tethering and were told by a group of three salespeople that "tethering is absolutely included with the monthly data charge and works through an app that is included in the phone." As probably most of you know this could not be further from the truth.

I think we should remember when talking to salespeople that: 1) just about anyone can become a phone salesman and they don't know everything about every phone they sell. In some cases I noticed they seem to know very little to nothing about some of the models. It doesn't take any special training to sell phones. 2) They work on commissions. They live by getting you to buy things, so up to a point they'll tell you anything to get you to leave with something. They have a lot of add-on insurance and other stuff that they want to sell you and if you convince you that you should be really scared of viruses and things you're more likely to sign up for extra services. And if you bring a phone to them they can charge you for more things by telling you your phone has been destroyed by a virus and you need a replacement than they would by telling you the easy way to fix it and keep your current phone.

 

[DROIDurLooking4]

Any device running a common OS (Win, *nix, MAC) is susceptible to virus infection. Smart phones have been proven to be nodes on bot networks as early as two years ago. Virus infections on smart phones can cause anything from loss of control of microphone and camera to use as a middle point in a malicious attempt and destruction of data.

To say AV is not necessary is simply taking a security through perceived obscurity....not a good idea.

 

[PhoenixGTR]

I was in the Verizon store and one of the employees was waiting for her replacement BB to arrive. ..what happened to the old one? A virus.

I know this is a somewhat old thread now, but I had to reply to this.


I think you have to take what people at the Verizon stores say with a grain of salt. I was reading on another website someone complaining a Verizon salesperson told them their phone had a virus when it absolutely did not.
When I was looking into buying an Incredible we asked about tethering and were told by a group of three salespeople that "tethering is absolutely included with the monthly data charge and works through an app that is included in the phone." As probably most of you know this could not be further from the truth.

I think we should remember when talking to salespeople that: 1) just about anyone can become a phone salesman and they don't know everything about every phone they sell. In some cases I noticed they seem to know very little to nothing about some of the models. It doesn't take any special training to sell phones. 2) They work on commissions. They live by getting you to buy things, so up to a point they'll tell you anything to get you to leave with something. They have a lot of add-on insurance and other stuff that they want to sell you and if you convince you that you should be really scared of viruses and things you're more likely to sign up for extra services. And if you bring a phone to them they can charge you for more things by telling you your phone has been destroyed by a virus and you need a replacement than they would by telling you the easy way to fix it and keep your current phone.

As accurate as your assessment of Verizon salespeople may be, it is beside the point in this case. I already had my phone, plan, etc.; I was just there that day exchanging one accessory for another, and the girl with the allegedly virused phone was just another salesperson in the store whom I noticed cos she was waiting impatiently for fedex to deliver her replacement phone.
I have no way of knowing if her phone really had a virus but I think these things are certainly possible even if not yet common, for the reasons DROIDurLooking4 has said. I've read the few AV programs in the Market can be problematic, though.I hope there are viable anti-malware apps out by the time the malware catches up, or preferably sooner.

 

[PhoenixGTR]

Here's something that works for the time being: when the Droid is connected to your PC, you can scan it with whatever AV program you use. That's something anyway.