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Help Antivirus Ap

R

robot phone

Newbie
Hi, I wanted to know if any of you could suggest a good antivirus ap. I'd like one that scans email and all that as well as aps I download. I am currently using lookout. Any ideas?
 
I've yet to hear of a Android virus in the wild. Even after how long WinMo was out, there was never a viable virus foud in the wild. Sure, some were created in the lab, the info of which was used by the av companies to promote worthless av software. The only exploits that we've seen in Android are are using permissions in some apps/wallpaper that users voluntarily agree to and which no av software would help. Even if infect able, phones make very poor vectors for malware as they offer relatively low install base and are so easy to wipe clean. They're not low hanging fruit, kind of the same reason Apples computers are so rarely attacked. The bottom line is that this isn't your desktop and you don't need an av app running in the background using up clock cycles.
 
The reason Mac's are never attacked really is because around 80% of the computers in the world run Window's. So when people write viruses, are you going to aim for the 80% or the other mixture OS's?

I agree with the chance of getting a virus on your phone is very low, but it's still a good idea to have something instead of waiting after a break out does happen. If your lucky and you have one and a break out happens, it limits your chances of getting the virus.
 
pastafarian said:
I've yet to hear of a Android virus in the wild.
Click to expand...

You must have missed the news articles last month then. Google pulled two malicious apps from the Android Market, and remotely uninstalled them from users phones.


pastafarian said:
Even after how long WinMo was out, there was never a viable virus foud in the wild.
Click to expand...

This statement is false. There absolutely has been malicious software in the wild for Windows Mobile.

pastafarian said:
The only exploits that we've seen in Android are are using permissions in some apps/wallpaper that users voluntarily agree to and which no av software would help.
Click to expand...

You've hit the nail on the head. That is exactly how a trojan works. The user is tricked into installing it. Just because it's a trojan and not a virus doesn't make it any less of a threat. And yes, AV software would help in this instance, in the same way AV software on your desktop would would catch a trojan when you downloaded it and tried to install it... As long as there was a signature for it.

There is some really interesting work being done in this space on the mobile side of things. Mobile security software doesn't have to work in the same way that desktop security software does (and shouldn't, given the limited resources on the device).


pastafarian said:
Even if infect able, phones make very poor vectors for malware as they offer relatively low install base and are so easy to wipe clean. They're not low hanging fruit, kind of the same reason Apples computers are so rarely attacked. The bottom line is that this isn't your desktop and you don't need an av app running in the background using up clock cycles.
Click to expand...

This very day? You're probably right. I don't run an AV app on my phone either because I don't quite feel it's necessary... yet... but... I also don't download many apps to my phone.

I do think that we are at the beginning of a paradigm shift in computing. It is just barely starting now, but In the next 12 to 24 months, we are going to see a huge move from desktop/laptop computing to smaller devices running iOS, Android, and WebOS.

One big telling sign... Apple just release new macs, and they didn't even bother to put them on the front page of their web site. Apple is making a huge bet that that consumers are going to move away from traditional computing devices in favor of much smaller tablets and phones.

HP bought palm. They see the writing on the wall as well.

The concept of securing mobile devices is catching hold in the corporate world, with people who have a lot to lose. It's only a matter of time before it starts to gain some mind share with consumers as well.

-SF
 
Playing the quote game

SlyFerret said:
You must have missed the news articles last month then. Google pulled two malicious apps from the Android Market, and remotely uninstalled them from users phones.

-Not a virus


This statement is false. There absolutely has been malicious software in the wild for Windows Mobile.

-No, it's not. I said >viable<. There have been a few (very few) items, none have done significant damage or propagated freely.


You've hit the nail on the head. That is exactly how a trojan works. The user is tricked into installing it. Just because it's a trojan and not a virus doesn't make it any less of a threat. And yes, AV software would help in this instance, in the same way AV software on your desktop would would catch a trojan when you downloaded it and tried to install it... As long as there was a signature for it.

- The recent wallpaper exploit wasn't a true trojan and probably wouldn't be caught effectively by a av program. Just like how most people don't read the permissions they're giving when installing an app, they would quickly ignore any malware program that questioned the same. This type of threat is best handled server side, not device side.

There is some really interesting work being done in this space on the mobile side of things. Mobile security software doesn't have to work in the same way that desktop security software does (and shouldn't, given the limited resources on the device).




This very day? You're probably right. I don't run an AV app on my phone either because I don't quite feel it's necessary... yet... but... I also don't download many apps to my phone.

I do think that we are at the beginning of a paradigm shift in computing. It is just barely starting now, but In the next 12 to 24 months, we are going to see a huge move from desktop/laptop computing to smaller devices running iOS, Android, and WebOS.

One big telling sign... Apple just release new macs, and they didn't even bother to put them on the front page of their web site. Apple is making a huge bet that that consumers are going to move away from traditional computing devices in favor of much smaller tablets and phones.

HP bought palm. They see the writing on the wall as well.

The concept of securing mobile devices is catching hold in the corporate world, with people who have a lot to lose. It's only a matter of time before it starts to gain some mind share with consumers as well.

-SF
Click to expand...

The very nature of mobile devices, the diversity of systems and the way they use data still makes them a very poor choice for the virus/trojan community. This doesn't mean that there won't be some attempts in the future. The biggest threat IMO to the casual user right now is the malicious av software provider who uses fud to sell av software/virus definitions that are all but useless.
 
Working as a computer repair tech and dealing with viruses on a daily basis i would have to agree with pasta. The problem with antivirus software is its always two steps behind. Not to say the counterpoints aren't legit (yes personal computing is making a drastic move to handheld devices and with that shift comes exponential increase in sensitive information contained on such devices making them bigger targets.) Lets face it, once a malicious program/virus/trojan/worm what have you is 'known and protected against' you dont seem them, save maybe a website or two that hasn't kept up with the 'game', the creators are on to bigger and better things so to speak. I've seen computers in my shop with every AV known to man, yet they are still here :confused:. I personally dont run AV, either on my moment or my pc. I compare it to sex......even if your using protection and you sleep around like a 2 bit whore you are bound to catch something. To my customers i explain it in terms of wearing a bullet proof vest, and then walking out in the middle of a gunfight....yes, you will get shot and it theres just as good a chance it misses the vest as there is it will hit it. The best defense against infection is knowing where you are putting your 'thing' and being prepared just incase you happened to put it somewhere it shouldn't have been and dont realize until its too late. Ultimately it comes down, just like everything else in this world, to personal preference. If you are worried about getting a virus then use protection, whether or not its doing any good.... whatever gives you peace of mind. You can walk around like bubble boy in hopes of never catching a cold, but if you jump off the empire state building it was all in vain, wasn't it. The next best thing is being prepared for the worst. There isn't a virus i've dealt with that worse comes to worse a format/reinstall doesn't fix. Keep regular backup's of anything you are not too keen on losing in the event that you need to resort to the 'ultimate' fix.
 
I never used to run av on my computers either and all the while I was doing the things you would think would expose you to the worst stuff and never, ever got any virii on my computer. The first and only problem I ever had was when the wife started messing around on myspace and got a mild trojan on it. My new computer has enough horsepower to run av and not have any lag or slowdowns at all so I loaded avg just to stop the myspace and facebook crap, but I'm still not worried about it.

I'm not concerned at all with them on the phone. Just use a little common sense and you'll be fine.
 
Just came across this: First Widespread Android Trojan Loose in the Wild

Honeymoon's over, everyone: antiviral watchdog Kapersky has spotted Android's first, SMS-based trojan making the rounds in Russia. The devious little MS.AndroidOS.FakePlayer.a masks itself as a media player before invisibly shooting out expensive texts to premium numbers, earning cash for fraudsters.

Isolated instances of Android spyware were reported last year, but this infection marks the first significant sighting of malware on the platform. Kapersky urges that "users pay close attention to the services that an application requests access to when it is being installed. That includes access to premium rate services that charge to send SMSs and make calls."
 
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