Droid and Virus protection

[olliepollie]

question....
my sister the other day came unglued and said that we all need to have anti-virus on our smart phones (i have first droid).
My daughter who works tec center for droid and others, said that what she sees is that anti-virus stalls phones.

question then: do i/we need anti-virus protection on this thing or not? And if so...what is a great free one?

I hope this is the section to ask this question. Sorry if its not.dancedroid

 

[Martin030908]

An anti-virus will be a resource hog and slow your phone down.

Also, 'viruses' aren't the problem really, the concern is more with malware. These deal with permissions an app REQUESTS and then the user OK's. So just take a look at what you're installing, only install from the Market (unless it's a reputable source) and stay away from junk apps.

Caution and a little awareness is all you need.

 

[WugFresh]

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 }}

 

[olliepollie]

thank you Martin and Wug for your great advise

 

[Martin030908]

Nice write up Wug!

 

[13th angel]

Pretty much anti-virus's are a waste of space...... much for why WugFresh said. There also aren't many for linux based systems (which android is) because except for the phone market most use Windows/Mac so it's wasted. Its the "why go out of my way to hurt these people when i can easily hurt more" mentality. Also, linux requires permissions more than windows so you cant really automate things without specifically giving it permission.

 

[Mwsr]

So outlook is not needed? IV seen a lot of people saying You need it to scan for malware

can + string on 2.1

 

[Droid DOES!!]

Waste of time. I DO like the backup and lost device options in Lookout though. Just disable the security part of it

So outlook is not needed? IV seen a lot of people saying You need it to scan for malware

can + string on 2.1

Message delivered via a Bolt of lightning

 

[13th angel]

Nah, you don't need lookout as long as you aren't stupid. Its like on a windows computer, if you aren't downloading random things then its not a problem really. Basically just don't download from sources you don't trust and you'll be fine.

Sent from my Liberated D2G

 

[WugFresh]

How QR Codes Will Cause the Android Apocalypse

{{ WugFresh }}

 

[cereal killer]

Snatch up Xeudoxus's application it's excellent and will give you piece of mind. It's not an anti virus program it's much more

Grab it below

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.xeudoxus.privacy.blocker&feature=search_result

 

[13th angel]

How QR Codes Will Cause the Android Apocalypse

{{ WugFresh }}

Is it sad I could actually see that happening? Lol

That kinda fell under the "don't be stupid" thing though.

Sent from my Liberated D2G

 

[redbert31]

What is a qr code? I need to know what it is so I can avoid it...loved reading your write up and your scenario for how some evil one can get us to infect our own phones for them

Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums App

 

[jstafford1]

QR codes are those squares that look like digital camo. Some people have them as avatars around here. Its a replacement for bard codes really.

Sent from somewhere...

 

[redbert31]

Thank you all for your good info. I've learned a lot by reading the df frequently and asking questions hopefully before I do stupid things just out of curiosity and the need to explore stuff. Luckily I've done much of my exploring on this great forum which is both entertaining and informative. Big thanks to all the mods and the other helpful members who step up and help us learn what we need to know. Love you all!..Linda