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Help Anti virus

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weaselboy

Member
Since android phones are so high tech now a days it is basically like a computer. I was wondering if I need to have anti virus software installed.
 
The term is malware that is a little more than virus. Virus is just one forem of malware.

There are a lot of people who think it is not necessary and ignore it.

I run Norton's on my Bionic and have no real way of knowing if it was of any use since the day I installed it. It seemed prudent to me.

You would expect that apps from Play Store were checked out fore malware as part of their acceptance for distribution. They were not in the past. I don't know if that policy was ever changed. There were cases where a few dozen apps were pulled out of their distribution each time because an "interested" technical person suspected a problem, dug a little, and found the problems.

... Thom
 
Thom Little said:
The term is malware that is a little more than virus. Virus is just one forem of malware.

There are a lot of people who think it is not necessary and ignore it.

I run Norton's on my Bionic and have no real way of knowing if it was of any use since the day I installed it. It seemed prudent to me.

You would expect that apps from Play Store were checked out fore malware as part of their acceptance for distribution. They were not in the past. I don't know if that policy was ever changed. There were cases where a few dozen apps were pulled out of their distribution each time because an "interested" technical person suspected a problem, dug a little, and found the problems.

... Thom
Click to expand...


So there is no real way of knowing if I really should be using it or not.
 
He didn't say there was no way of knowing if you should use one or not... he stated that he felt it is prudent to do so.

All operating systems are capable of being infected, there have even been malware directed at the android os... currently it isn't prevelant but then again malware was also not prevelant on DOS or Windows based systems at first and now it is epidemic...

With good free as well as paid protection softwares available... I see little reason to not install something to help protect my phone. Taking steps now could help avoid malware becoming worse later.
 
That is correct. Norton malware scan on my Bionic has never found a problem.

I went through this on mainframe computers. I went through this on PCs. There was no protection. There was no need for protection. Then one person caused a problem. Within six months all hell had broken loose and everyone was running protection software on their computers.

I decided not to wait this time and have always used Norton on my Droid X and Bionic.

Like I said before ... many people think it is irrelevant.

... Thom
 
Lookout is also a very highly rated app for finding malware.

A lot of people say it's not needed, but as someone else said, ANY OS can be attacked. Some OS's don't get attacked because their is not enough users on them to make it worth a malicious persons time, but smartphones are exploding. People keep bank apps, insurance apps, and many others that hold a lot of sensitive, personal information. A little precaution is never a bad thing.

Although my personal reccomendation is to never get any apps from any 3rd party site. Stick with Google's Play Market, and while Amazon's seems reputable, I tend to be very cautious of them, especially the free app of the day offers because they don't seem to make the permissions list as freely available as the Play Market does.
 
I use lookout & there is AVP (I think) both work fine....I use the free version & so far no problem... Nothing detected also. & yes lookout has a icon in the system bar on the top & sends me weekly emails of my status. I do not recommend using/installing more than one of these software at the same time.... usually conflicts.
 
wildkitten said:
Although my personal reccomendation is to never get any apps from any 3rd party site. Stick with Google's Play Market, and while Amazon's seems reputable, I tend to be very cautious of them, especially the free app of the day offers because they don't seem to make the permissions list as freely available as the Play Market does.
Click to expand...

The only problem is ... the FM radio app was only available from a non-Play Store location. In addition there were three major "events" when about two dozen apps were removed from Play Store that had malware and they were distributing them.

... Thom
 
I bought the paid version cold at Staples for $29.

The paid version has a number of additional capabilities that I don;t want or need.

Load the free version and select "upgrade to full version". It will tell you the add-ons you are getting for $30 and you decided if you want them.

... Thom
 
Thom Little said:
I bought the paid version cold at Staples for $29.

The paid version has a number of additional capabilities that I don;t want or need.

Load the free version and select "upgrade to full version". It will tell you the add-ons you are getting for $30 and you decided if you want them.

... Thom
Click to expand...


Alright thank you so much!
 
Thom Little said:
The only problem is ... the FM radio app was only available from a non-Play Store location. In addition there were three major "events" when about two dozen apps were removed from Play Store that had malware and they were distributing them.

... Thom
Click to expand...
That's true. I just remember when the new angry Birds came out, all the malware versions were from 3rd party sites.

Not everything is going to be perfect, it's why people need to read permissions for every app they download and get ones that have been downloaded a lot and are highly rated.

I was just saying as a general rule of thumb. There will always be exceptions. I even got the radio app, though I wish it had an Exit button. I have to stop it in Tasks when I am done listening to it.
 
wildkitten said:
That's true. I just remember when the new angry Birds came out, all the malware versions were from 3rd party sites.

Not everything is going to be perfect, it's why people need to read permissions for every app they download and get ones that have been downloaded a lot and are highly rated.

I was just saying as a general rule of thumb. There will always be exceptions. I even got the radio app, though I wish it had an Exit button. I have to stop it in Tasks when I am done listening to it.
Click to expand...

unplugging your headphones doesn't kill it?
 
wildkitten said:
That's true. I just remember when the new angry Birds came out, all the malware versions were from 3rd party sites.

Not everything is going to be perfect, it's why people need to read permissions for every app they download and get ones that have been downloaded a lot and are highly rated.

I was just saying as a general rule of thumb. There will always be exceptions. I even got the radio app, though I wish it had an Exit button. I have to stop it in Tasks when I am done listening to it.
Click to expand...


Well thats weired because when i take out the headphones any media thats playing shuts off snd any game goes to silent.
 
I installed the year subscription on my Bionic and paid for it willingly. I started to go to a Web Page that looked ok, but Norton blocked it with a pop up warning me that it was a known malicious website and to exit immediately. It has only happened once, but it made it worth the fee.
 
I bought Kaspersky for my home computers and had extra licensing for my smartphones as well. I installed the remaining licenses on my bionic and my wifes X. Has features to autowipe the phone, autolock, if a new SIM card is detected it locks the phone and emails me the new number and does gps tracking. And it detects malware. Many good reasons sometimes to get the anti-malware apps. Lookout does some of what Kaspersky does but Kaspersky does more.
 
xiteg79 said:
I bought Kaspersky for my home computers and had extra licensing for my smartphones as well. I installed the remaining licenses on my bionic and my wifes X. Has features to autowipe the phone, autolock, if a new SIM card is detected it locks the phone and emails me the new number and does gps tracking. And it detects malware. Many good reasons sometimes to get the anti-malware apps. Lookout does some of what Kaspersky does but Kaspersky does more.
Click to expand...


Oh snap thats cool!
 
IMHO...They're a waste of your phones resources. Common sense is more than enough to keep you safe, and in the event your phone is lost/stolen there are just as good apps out there that don't have all the extras
 
Rxpert83 said:
IMHO...They're a waste of your phones resources. Common sense is more than enough to keep you safe, and in the event your phone is lost/stolen there are just as good apps out there that don't have all the extras
Click to expand...

I agree but there are A LOT of people lacking a the key to making it work, common sense.
 
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