On The Android Platform:
To run a virus from the Google market...
(which there have only been a few, any if there are any, they would be reported and pulled immediately; furthermore, even if they weren't pulled immediately, which they would be; they would be exposed through channels of communication long before they spread, because informatiom will always travel exponentially faster than any viruses in an open source community)
...you would have to:
1. Grant Permissions
2. Download it
3. Install it
No virus could be run from the market without you, the user, giving it privalages to do so first.
To run a virus obtained from an out-of-market source, you, the user, would have to:
1. Download it
2. Enable Installing apks from 'Unknown Sources' in your application settings
3. Install it
For any virus to modify/corrupt anything on the system level, you, the user, would first have to
- Grant Superuser Permissions
To protect yourself from viruses
*Stay away from browsing and downloading impulse apk's from any third party site/market.
*Only download apk's from a third party site that you trust, like z4root from links on this forum.
*Only download Adobe Flash Player from the market and obtain all flash player updates from the market.
*NEVER download and install a video pluggin through your web browser or within ANY trusted internet based apk like Facebook.
*Pay attention to the permissions you are granting to apps through the market, but don't live in fear of market apps... there are alot of eyes watching the market
*Pay CLOSE attention to which apps you grant Super User Permissions to and what they are doing.
*Stay informed, which is very easy considering you are carrying a mobile computer in your pocket.
And for ALL platforms the most important rule is
***ONLY download/install files from a TRUSTED SOURCE***
If you follow these guidelines running antivirus software is superfluous on android and will only be at the expense of slower system performance and faster battery consumption.
{{ WugFresh }}
