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Android Antivirus: Is it really necessary?

 
alostpacket said:
Sorry, I think that's incorrect -- would love a link to the article though.

Lookout updated their software after the discovery, which was made by some guy on reddit.

The Official Lookout Blog | Update: Security Alert: DroidDream Malware Found in Official Android Market

I don't begudge you the use of Lookout, they are very smart guys that know a ton about Android security, and their software has other nice features -- but AV is inherrently reactionary wherin lies the problem.

If lookout really had detected this, they would have gone on a PR blitz to show how needed their software is.
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Keep Malware Off Your Android Phone: 5 Quick Tips - PCWorld

"Put a malware and antivirus scanner on your phone. Although many people still think that antivirus scanners on phones are useless, maybe outbreaks such as this one will change minds. Several different big-name security companies already offer mobile-security options, many of them free. I myself had downloaded "Spider Man," which is on a bad-apps list. My Lookout software identified it as a Trojan horse."

BTW Google pulled the apps on March 1st. The last update to lookout was February 24th.
 
apparently they're all fixed with a factory reset and I do them quite often to install ROMs. Does anyone know if Titanium backs up malware with system settings? that could be bad :/
 
pool_shark said:
Keep Malware Off Your Android Phone: 5 Quick Tips - PCWorld

"Put a malware and antivirus scanner on your phone. Although many people still think that antivirus scanners on phones are useless, maybe outbreaks such as this one will change minds. Several different big-name security companies already offer mobile-security options, many of them free. I myself had downloaded "Spider Man," which is on a bad-apps list. My Lookout software identified it as a Trojan horse."

BTW Google pulled the apps on March 1st. The last update to lookout was February 24th.
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That article doesnt say when it identified the spiderman app. And that article was clearly written after the 50 apps were pulled (seeing as they have the list).

You're assuming that lookout caught it earlier.

The Official Lookout Blog | Update: Security Alert: DroidDream Malware Found in Official Android Market

March 1
...
Update: We
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Yes, I'm assuming it caught it earlier, you're assuming it didn't.
The only way to know for sure would be to ask the author of the article.
 
alostpacket said:
2) Is AV the needed/helpful?
A: Generally not. But if the user really doesn't want to know about how the digital world works, it may have a use.

But the real lasting solution is not AV. We dont buy sofware for people who are unwilling to learn how to drive, we dont buy software for people who are unwilling to vote.
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I don't think anyone is implying AV is a cure all for software security. The point of AV is to provide a level of protection against threats. It won't detect or stop every malware that's out there (especially new ones), but at the very least it will give people a safety net for the threats that are known.


There are some things society, especially geeks, need to push a bit harder on regular folks about.

And one of those is developing good security habits, and a good eye for scams.
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I'm all for people developing good security habits. It's very important. But we shouldn't just rely on that. We are all human. Chances are we're going slip up and make mistakes. So it's important to employ multiple levels of security.

An analogy to this will be like securing a house in a bad neighborhood. It's not enough to just have good habits like remember to locks all doors and windows before you go out. It may be useful to have other measures like motion sensing alarms or guard dog etc. Having good security is about have multiple levels of protection. Using AV is one. They are there to help. It's not going to save you from everything, but at least it help guard you from some.


Really the blame lies squarely with the telcos and manufacturers that lock the phones and are bad at updates (especially Sony, Moto and Samsung).
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That's a little unfair. The slow updates is partly to blame. But you can't let google off the hook either. If they knew about this exploit since froyo 2.2.2, they could of have been more diligent in their approval of these apps and prevent them from the entering the market in the first place.

Also you have to keep in mind, not all phones that are out now can run froyo effectively. So some phones will be vulnerable regardless if the updates are available.

Anyways, AV is here to stay whether you like it or think it's necessary. It a few years time, we're all going to be using AV on our phones just like we do on our computers.
 
TheEngineer said:
Ah, but he provides logical evidence for his position.
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Just as the other poster assumes the Author of the article found it afterward, where is you smart ass remark to him?

Not to mention where is your proof that the AV software causes problems?
I'm running AV software with no problems and provided proof that it isn't using any CPU on my device.
You're providing nothing but empty words with attitude.
 
pool_shark said:
Just as the other poster assumes the Author of the article found it afterward, where is you smart ass remark to him?

Not to mention where is your proof that the AV software causes problems?
I'm running AV software with no problems and provided proof that it isn't using any CPU on my device.
You're providing nothing but empty words with attitude.
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when I had Advanced Task Manager, things seemed to FC a lot including itself, but I'm not sure that was the reason
 
adi19956 said:
when I had Advanced Task Manager, things seemed to FC a lot including itself, but I'm not sure that was the reason
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Task killer and lookout are not the same app.
I've never used task killer, does it also have an AV?
I've been getting random reboots since installing better keyboard, but I really like the keyboard.
 
pool_shark said:
Not to mention where is your proof that the AV software causes problems?
I'm running AV software with no problems and provided proof that it isn't using any CPU on my device.
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Unlike your anecdotal "proof", my evidence is from my extensive experience supporting Android phones. Just because YOUR phone is okay with it does not mean that the app is not causing significant issues with others' phones.

Hope you don't think that this reply is smartass as well just because you disagree with it.
 
pool_shark said:
Just as the other poster assumes the Author of the article found it afterward, where is you smart ass remark to him?

Not to mention where is your proof that the AV software causes problems?
I'm running AV software with no problems and provided proof that it isn't using any CPU on my device.
You're providing nothing but empty words with attitude.
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Lookout said they updated their software afterwards, I've posted this fact (with the links showing where you can read it on their blog) twice now, I'm not sure why you don't accept that as proof. They said they had pushed the update on March 1 and your article where the guy mentions that lookout found it (but he doesnt mention when) was published on March 2.

I feel like I just told you this guy confessed to a crime and you're telling me he couldn't have done it because his mom had seen him at some point in the last week.

Saying that I'm making assumptions about your evidence is an example of a negative assertion/burden of proof fallacy. All I have to prove, is that your evidence doesn't show proof.

My evidence was that lookout said they updated after. Your evidence was inconclusive, and hence proves nothing.

If lookout had caught these apps beforehand they would have been all over promoting that fact about themselves.


Anyways, I dont really know what else to say.

Was kinda hilarious this guy had downloaded "spiderman" though and it's on a "bad-apps list" whatever that means. The technical incompetence of I.W. never ceases to amaze me.

Anyways, you seem like a nice dude, so don't take any of this too personally. I dig these good-spirited dicussions/disagreements on the forums.
 
alostpacket said:
Lookout said they updated their software afterwards, I've posted this fact (with the links showing where you can read it on their blog) twice now, I'm not sure why you don't accept that as proof. They said they had pushed the update on March 1 and your article where the guy mentions that lookout found it (but he doesnt mention when) was published on March 2.

I feel like I just told you this guy confessed to a crime and you're telling me he couldn't have done it because his mom had seen him at some point in the last week.

Saying that I'm making assumptions about your evidence is an example of a negative assertion/burden of proof fallacy. All I have to prove, is that your evidence doesn't show proof.

My evidence was that lookout said they updated after. Your evidence was inconclusive, and hence proves nothing.

If lookout had caught these apps beforehand they would have been all over promoting that fact about themselves.


Anyways, I dont really know what else to say.

Was kinda hilarious this guy had downloaded "spiderman" though and it's on a "bad-apps list" whatever that means. The technical incompetence of I.W. never ceases to amaze me.

Anyways, you seem like a nice dude, so don't take any of this too personally. I dig these good-spirited dicussions/disagreements on the forums.
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Even if they updated their software after does not prove that their software didn't catch something within the app before hand. What you're using as proof is circumstantial.
The software didn't have to catch every single one of the bad apps, it could have only caught that one and it could have just been one particular thing in it.
No the guy in the article doesn't say when he downloaded spider man or when lookout detected it, but you're assuming that it wasn't until the app was updated as if there is only one thing inside that could or couldn't be detected.


I just asked the guy what date he downloaded the spider man app and what date lookout detected it as a trojan. If he responds I'll let you know what he says.
 
So really if root the phone how do you know if the ROM packages dont have maleware or some kinda of tracking software hidden to gain your Credit Card numbers, your location, or maybe turn on cam and spy on you.
I would rather wait for manufactors update and have to deal with such stuff.

So really not safe to root or unlock anything since mobile phone are gps units,phone,small factor Computer in which anybody can tap in to your Droid, and to would rather have full blown linux on smartphone then Droid.
 
tod VM670 said:
So really if root the phone how do you know if the ROM packages dont have maleware or some kinda of tracking software hidden to gain your Credit Card numbers, your location, or maybe turn on cam and spy on you.
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I don't know about other roms, but the Cyanogen roms are fully open source, so you can inspect the code yourself.
 
For android, I would say no, not at this time. However, it would be nice if the AV's dectected both Android malware and Windows Malware, since I use my phone as a storage device for my Windows machines. The only two that I have tried are Dr.Webs and AVG's, both seem to run fine.
 
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