Cerberus hacked?

[kwalla]

Last night I started to get emails from Cerberus that my sim card had been changed... even though I was holding my phone and haven't done anything with the sim card.

Last night, in a weekly scan, Avast said Cerberus had a trojan (I forget the name) and wanted to remove it, so I did that.

I suppose with the new Google-direct ability to track/wipe my phone, a program like Cerberus isn't really needed anymore. Yes, I know it can do a lot more, but my thinking is that Google is going to increase the features they offer over time.

Anyone else recently had trouble with Cerberus?

(note: up to now, for over a year, Cerberus and Avast have lived happily on my phone with no conflicts.)

 

[Clementine_3]

From Twitter:

@cerberusapp We received reports that @avast_antivirus flags Cerberus as malware. It's a false positive, hope they'll fix it soon. http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=134852.0 …

 

[gtbarry]

my opinion....one more reason to uninstall avast

 

[OstrichSaK]

Cerberus > Avast

 

[funkylogik]

Yup. Plus Avast munches on your battery. AV apps are crap imo. Post-theft apps are the bomb

 

[fdbryant3]

I really should get around to installing Cerebrus. Although Google is releasing there own, guess I could just start using that.

 

[kwalla]

Cerebrus is the one I removed. The free Google service works and, I'm thinking, will continue to get new features. I know Cerebrus has all these nifty commands to send, but in reality... I'm not going to remember them. Being able to find/wipe is really what's needed.

Avast doesn't have any meaningful impact on my battery.... and it stays because a code has to be entered to delete an App. I like that.

 

[dibblebill]

I got Kaspersky One for my computers and put it on my phone and tablet. No real battery drain, false positives, and full post-theft features. I'm happy with it, had it for nearly a year now

 

[OstrichSaK]

What's the name of the Google service that everyone keeps mentioning? I want to check it out.

I got Kaspersky One for my computers and put it on my phone and tablet. No real battery drain, false positives, and full post-theft features. I'm happy with it, had it for nearly a year now

If you're running a registered Windows machine just run Microsoft Security Essentials. It's free, lightweight & catches everything the others caught and then some. I've given up on 3rd party programs years ago.

 

[Dngrsone]

Imagine my surprise, seeing that subject line-- my old firewall appliance was named Cerberus...

 

[UncleMike]

I know Cerebrus has all these nifty commands to send, but in reality... I'm not going to remember them.

You don't have to remember them. The web interface gives you a drop down list of available commands, as does the Cerberus Client for Android.

 

[kwalla]

What's the name of the Google service that everyone keeps mentioning? I want to check it out.



If you're running a registered Windows machine just run Microsoft Security Essentials. It's free, lightweight & catches everything the others caught and then some. I've given up on 3rd party programs years ago.

Microsoft Security Essentials used to rate quite well, but it's fallen off in recent times: The Best Antivirus App for Windows. I'm biased towards Lifehacker... so your opinions/thoughts may vary.

The Google service is called "Android Device Manager": Google's Android Device Manager Finds and Wipes Your Lost Phone

K

 

[dibblebill]

What's the name of the Google service that everyone keeps mentioning? I want to check it out.



If you're running a registered Windows machine just run Microsoft Security Essentials. It's free, lightweight & catches everything the others caught and then some. I've given up on 3rd party programs years ago.

WSE doesn't give me the advanced firewall options I want, and has fallen, like the other guy said- that's not the only report I've seen where its failing to find threats. Believe me, when it came out, I suggested it to a LOT of people on grounds of being free and reliable. Now, I use Kaspersky. $50 protects both of my PC's and both of my mobile devices for marginally more than the cost of a decent firewall.

Of course, neither/none of the above protect as well as good-old common sense and caution.

 

[Dngrsone]

I have kids, so common sense/caution is pretty much out. I have to get my internet connection straightened out, then I am going to hack my modem into pure bridge mode and run a firewall appliance again.

 

[UncleMike]

I have kids, so common sense/caution is pretty much out.

I've always said that caution and common sense are all that's needed to keep safe, but with 3 kids of my own I have to agree with you, and eat my words.