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Antivirus

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GalaxyBrad

Newbie
Hello guys.I came here to ask you-who got more experience than this noob- which is the best antivirus for android.I use avg right now(pro version).I had it for an hour now and I simply coudn't figure out how to enable those "amazing" options such as "findr" or "autoscan' in several intervals of time.Can you help me to set it up or can you recommend me a better antivirus?Please don't post thinkgs like "An antivirus is useless" because I download a lot of things on my device and I'm afraid for its health.Thanks:)
 
I haven't tried AVG on my phone, and a while ago some security dudes had stopped recommending it for computers. I suggest trying Kaspersky Lite, and for extra on-demand scans, Android Antivirus, and Dr.Web Anti-virus Light. As with computers, if you want live protection, just have one anti-virus app for that, and the others for on-demand scanning.

EDIT: that's assuming that Kaspersky Lite has live protection, might need the paid version for that. If so, use Dr. Web if you want live protection.
 
The Android OS is Linux based. To the best of my knowledge there are no virus' that attack Linux. Your phone can get Malware but these are not viruses.
 
GalaxyBrad said:
My friend has iPhone and he told me that app store is moderated,but android market isn't.
Click to expand...

SuppliedRelic said:
Your friend is correct, that is the main reason they don't have antivirus software on the App Store.
Click to expand...

Myth.

The App Store is no safer than the Market.

Details here - http://androidforums.com/lounge/510892-google-market-vs-apple-store.html

valorian said:
The Android OS is Linux based. To the best of my knowledge there are no virus' that attack Linux. Your phone can get Malware but these are not viruses.
Click to expand...

There have been many Linux viruses. It's generally a harder target though.

https://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/284124-myth-busting-is-linux-immune-to-viruses

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Linuxvirus

To date, there have been no viruses on Android, but there has been other malware.

As for common sense and Market only apps keeping you safe, a few of us disagree.

http://androidforums.com/android-applications/505080-looking-real-people-real-malware.html
 
Even apples app store has it's fair share of things. Good thing we can read the permissions and we have the forums here to ask around.
 
When another user posted (in another thread) about how iPhone is more secure and respects user's privacy, I decided to find some articles showing him that the iPhone just hides it. I couldn't find any articles covering data mining. What I did find were many articles showing programmers how to insert data mining code into iOS apps. Totally self contained, all the programmer had to do was change the FTP server information to load the data mined to a server.

I wonder if those programmers just have to bribe pay an additional fee to Apple so that Apple lets their app do all the data mining they want. Or if Apple just doesn't really screen their apps anymore, due to the huge volume.

Oh, and I was off topic. So to get back on topic: With a little bit of knowledge, you can be perfectly safe without an antimalware app. Read this and decide for yourself what is a good app or not: http://androidforums.com/android-ap...explained-security-tips-avoiding-malware.html
 
In a post in that Market vs App Store link above, there's a vid detailing a study showing that there may be less data mining in the Cydia store apps for iOS.

As for the Market, you make a good point about server access. Just this week we had a user with an apk that he claimed would scan safe (it did) and be harmless for people to try. Analysis by scary alien revealed that it did in fact maliciously access an evil server on one button press. (user banned, of course)

Know your Market, check permissions, ask others here for their experiences with apps, I still agree that those are the key front line defenses.
 
I've never used an Anti-Virus application on any of my Android phones - I don't see any reason to. Just my two or three cents.
 
EarlyMon said:
In a post in that Market vs App Store link above, there's a vid detailing a study showing that there may be less data mining in the Cydia store apps for iOS.
Click to expand...

Heh...less? If there was a well-adopted root app store (I know CM is trying to build one, but it's not here nor adopted), imagine what would happen if someone posted an app with data mining on it. Or imagine if someone posted an app/ROM on XDA that data mined...how badly they would be flamed out of existence. Look at what happened to CarrierIQ. But, when comparing the 'Play' against the App Store, Cydia being a 3rd party app market is kinda irrelevant :p Also, I've read that Cydia does have anti-data mining apps.
 
I thought it was relevant in that the same Apple corporate spreading the rumor that the Market/Play was unsafe were the same suits saying the same about Cydia, and that an apples to apples comparison (pun intended) would help shed light on Apple-sourced mythologies - including their Android myths. :)
 
Tell me if I'm wrong, but isn't Cydia a place you can only access if your apple device is jailbroken? And if so, then that is really sad. (I am still learning some things.)
 
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