Is virus software necessary and which free one is the best for an android phone?

[mms_choc]

Is virus software necessary and which free one is the best for an android phone? I'm concern because a friend told me you can get viruses on your android. I use the free versions of AVG and Avast on my home computers and have no problems with them. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[jasperwill]

i kinda have the same question. my understanding is that this phone is running a linux based OS so a virus that is engineered to attack a linux box might damage the phone in the same way it would a linux box.
that being said... how many sites do you visit on your phone that you dont trust already to not have viruses. i tend to look at my bank account, do some forum browsing/posting and maybe a youtube video or two.

those are all sites that i am pretty confident i could goto with absolutely no virus protection and have no issues.

my next point would be that its a linux OS and there are very few if any viruses currently on the net that target linux users.
its just not a market share yet.

my biggest issue i think would be with the app store. if you downloaded and installed a program that you gave access to the internet then you would be opening yourself up to anything that app wants to do in addition to what it is telling you it is doing. but then again if you have granted permissions to that app will the virus software still see it as a threat?

thats a very long winded statement but there u go...
all speculation on my part. what do u think?

 

[mms_choc]

I've had concerns about letting all these apps access to everything I do period. I don't like them seeing my phone calls and my web browsing but it seems even the ones that already preloaded on your android do that. I still would like to have some kind of virus software because it's only a matter of time before someone invents a virus for that targets androids. Thanks for your input.

 

[Thefoodman52]

Right now, I see no need for it. All they can do is cause problems with access and permissions, then next thing you know you're sitting in line at a store with a glitchy, fancy, technologically capable brick in your hands. I say they're completely pointless right now.

 

[gadzooks]

You may find this helpful.

http://androidforums.com/android-applications/36936-how-safe-find-trusted-apps-avoid-viruses-guide-those-new-android.html

 

[TheAndroidWorks]

I would avoid them for now. There are no known virus, and when one comes out, you can bet that they will not already have it in their library.

 

[Demache]

They seem sort of useless at this point. Linux tends to be naturally more secure, since not every application has full access to the system. I also read somewhere, that unless the user directly downloads and opens the virus, the threat is pretty low, since drive by downloads are virtually non-existent. And without root access, they can't delete or replace system files to make your phone unusable.

 

[TheAndroidWorks]

They seem sort of useless at this point. Linux tends to be naturally more secure, since not every application has full access to the system. I also read somewhere, that unless the user directly downloads and opens the virus, the threat is pretty low, since drive by downloads are virtually non-existent. And without root access, they can't delete or replace system files to make your phone unusable.

This is spot on.

 

[Snow_Fox]

I think it is funny there are privacy concerns when dealing with android.

Honestly when you think about the fact that this is all based on the idea of cloud computing it all relies on you having access to servers which store your information in the first place :/

As cool as the whole idea is it basically screams privacy invasion or at least possibility for it.

Now when your account is compromised so is your contacts, no longer just a list of emails... but, actual numbers possible addresses, and enough information to make you die of a heartattack.

 

[Demache]

I think it is funny there are privacy concerns when dealing with android.

Honestly when you think about the fact that this is all based on the idea of cloud computing it all relies on you having access to servers which store your information in the first place :/

As cool as the whole idea is it basically screams privacy invasion or at least possibility for it.

Now when your account is compromised so is your contacts, no longer just a list of emails... but, actual numbers possible addresses, and enough information to make you die of a heartattack.

This is why I don't give my password to anybody. And keep a lock on my phone. If your phone gets lost or stolen, the amount of info it has access to is ridiculous.