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What Are You Doing To Protect Your Bionic?

I think most people have concluded that there's really no need for an antivirus app, because there is no known viruses for android. They just eat up your battery, I used to use lookout mobile security but haven't in a long time.
 
I'm using an Otterbox Defender to protect my Bionic from physical harm. I'm using the ironically named "common sense" to protect it from malware.

+1 on anti-malware being unnecessary.
 
Just like your PC, don't open emails you don't know the sender, I don't answer calls I don't know the number or read texts from unknown senders either. Surfing the web, stay of the porn sites, and don't download garbage.
 
New Rising said:
I think most people have concluded that there's really no need for an antivirus app, because there is no known viruses for android. They just eat up your battery, I used to use lookout mobile security but haven't in a long time.
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Thanks for the responses. Has there been ANY known issues of someone's Bionic being attacked via software/malware? I mean...I wonder why the antivirus folks are selling it and there is no viruses for android??? I guess I'll save my money until it is proven that I need a malware/virus program.
 
Apparently the first two responders never even took the time to read the linked post on infections which are spreading on Android devices now... An increase from %1 last year and now %4 is significant.

If users such as these continue to keep their heads buried in the sand... then malware on mobile devices will simply continue to spread more and more. As these devices become more popular... the spread of malware will only increase just as we had seen on PC's in the past.

Using common sense techniques can help in some cases... but not all. In fact, when talking about an infection that spreads through email... it is more likely to actually come from someone you know than from an unknown source. What happens in these types of attacks is that someone you know, friend or family, has their computer get infected... that infection then reads the email address's of their contacts and then sends out emails to all of the contacts in the address book. One of those contacts then opens the email, believing it is safe since it is coming from someone they know, and then their computer gets infected and the process starts all over... So these types of infections spread exponentially.

Malware authors are no longer just using porn, gambling or other similar types of websites to spread... Now they actually infect common websites that many of us visit, which in turn ends up infecting our own computers and devices.

So... If you think you are safe simply because there aren't many malwares... Remember what happened ( is happening ) on the browsers on Windows... Firefox and Chrome users used to brag that they couldn't get infected... now they get infected as easily as Internet Explorer users... Mac users used to do the same... and they are still not targeted quite as much as Windows users... but they can be infected just like any operating system.

Don't be complacent or naive.... protect all of your computers and devices with whatever you think is best for you. Not only will you save yourself money from needing to get it disinfected... but you will also help slow the spread of infections to those you care about.
 
I'm not naive,but I also don't worry a lot about certain things. Don't equate not taking EVERY CONCEIVABLE PRECAUTION as a sign that someone is naive. It's bad form. Cheers.
 
For those that may be interested in what malware, possible exploits and other security issues that currently exist in the mobile arena... see AVG Mobilation | News and Media Releases | Android Security

They are affiliated with AVG whom provides both free and paid protection for Android and Windows mobile devices.

I am a computer repair tech ( currently only working on Windows based systems ) with computer repair experience going back to 1978. I would much rather see my clients able to spend their hard earned money on new upgrades than on having to have their computers disinfected...
 
rdsok said:
Apparently the first two responders never even took the time to read the linked post on infections which are spreading on Android devices now... An increase from %1 last year and now %4 is significant.
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A 1 in 25 chance is not that significant for somebody who exercises great care. You also missed this from that article:

Despite all the alarming headlines this week, Android malware is nowhere near the tipping point....

... This year Lookout said the likelihood of encountering Android malware shot up to 4 percent from 1 percent in 2010; most of this targeted folks outside the U.S.
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As this is posted in the Bionic forum, we know that all users are US based users.

In my opinion, if you are the type who loves to install news apps from the market, you may want to install one of these apps. Otherwise, I think that you are wasting processor cycles and precious battery life.

My opinion.
 
I'm of the belief that it is more important to try and completely avoid reaching the tipping point... what we do now will impact what we can expect in the future. The more vulnerable the Android market is, the more attractive it becomes to the malware authors to exploit that vulnerability. I saw how quickly malware spread in DOS/Windows systems... it went from almost none to almost everyone being at risk in just a few years simply because no one headed the warnings as malware was starting to ramp up.
 
rdsok said:
I'm of the belief that it is more important to try and completely avoid reaching the tipping point... what we do now will impact what we can expect in the future. The more vulnerable the Android market is, the more attractive it becomes to the malware authors to exploit that vulnerability. I saw how quickly malware spread in DOS/Windows systems... it went from almost none to almost everyone being at risk in just a few years simply because no one headed the warnings as malware was starting to ramp up.
Click to expand...

The more "successful" malware on Android becomes, the more attractive the platform will be to malware authors. Thus far, the key to this "success" has been <use you own adjective> users who pay make no effort to correlate required permissions with the claimed functionality of an app, install apps from questionable sources, or install supposed cracked paid apps in an effort to get something for nothing.

Stemming the tide of Android malware will require these users to change their behavior drastically. Getting those who use caution and common sense to install anti-malware apps will do little or nothing to stem the tide.
 
The majority of the infections I'm seeing now on computers come from users that have visited a website that had itself become infected.... they weren't browsing suspicious websites and they weren't installing other software that they had downloaded legally or illegally ( though I do have several that got infected from what they download from P2P apps also ). I do agree that user's need to alter their behaviour... but I'm seeing enough infections that just a change in behaviour wouldn't have stopped the infection from spreading to their systems.
 
So...to date, has anyone heard of any Bionics or any other Android phone being infected? I'm sure that it is just like anything else; if given enough time, it can/will happen.

Thanks for all the replies and opinions. It is helping to make a decision and valid points previously not considered are now considerations.
 
Duckster said:
So...to date, has anyone heard of any Bionics or any other Android phone being infected? I'm sure that it is just like anything else; if given enough time, it can/will happen.
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Yes.... Go to the link in my second post ( #10 ) and read the info on that page... it lists the malware and exploits that has been found "in the wild" so far. In fact, the link you provided in the first post even mentions that infections on Android devices has risen from just 1% having gotten infected up to 4% in this last year having been reported as being infected.... and that is just the known infections, it doesn't cover those that never found out they were infected.
 
I did read the links...thanks for providing them. I poorly worded what I was trying to say, but I wanted to know if anyone personally on this board had that happen to them or personally know of a friend that was hit. I think that the safe thing to do is be careful of what I download, but as previously pointed out, it could very well come from someone that we know via their email, etc.
 
kingnut said:
Lol at people thinking there are no viruses for android. Denial isnt a river in egypt.
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I have heard of malware on Android, and do not deny that it exists. I don't think anyone here is denying it. IMO, viruses require the ability to self-propogate - and I haven't heard of THAT on Android. What we disagree on is what end users can or should do about it to protect themselves. I think that with caution and common sense, you can be safe. Others may want more of a safety net - and they're welcome to it. Regardless, I don't consider claims of increased malware presence to be credible when those claims are coming from anti-malware vendors.
 
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