[FF22]

If you want to keep US Gov secrets out of the hands of Russians, it's prob not a great choice. If you want to keep your secrets out of the hands of the US Gov, it's a good choice.
That's for computers, any anti virus running full time on an Android is a bad idea, and not needed.

An amusing take on Kaspersky.

What I expect to happen is that one day in the future, Kaspersky will at one precise moment empty every US users' bank account. Boom - EMPTY!

Just kidding - I HOPE!

[Elephant_Canyon]

If you have Google Chrome installed then you need antivirus it's an absolute must. Likewise if you have Microsoft Edge installed you need antivirus.
If you use Samsung web browser or opera web browser or even Mozilla web browser it is therefore not needed because all three are secure browsers.
As long as your Android permissions are locked down to dtek standard.

Norton symantec and McAfee are all white listed for NSA purposes. I therefore recommend Avast AVG and Kasperski. All three are good at keeping the Russians the British the Chinese and the American snooping systems out of your phone. With the phone's being made in China with a Canadian Security System both countries are very interested in keeping all of those out.
BlackBerry is the most secure system on the planet it is even in Boeing black phone.

Just about everything in this post is either unsupported speculation or outright false.

Especially the part about Kaspersky keeping the Russians from snooping on you.

[Gokulraj gr]

Ok well said guys (both supporters and non supporters of Antivirus) Here I noticed that Non supporters are high.
Ok leave it..
Here my doubt is "Why the Programmers(even branded app developers like McAfee, Avast etc) creating Antivirus for Mobile Phones? ( Non supporters know what they don't know or you guys don't know what they know)
I think my question will be answered in more technical way

[Gokulraj gr]

Ok well said guys (both supporters and non supporters of Antivirus) Here I noticed that Non supporters are high.
Ok leave it..
Here my doubt is "Why the Programmers(even branded app developers like McAfee, Avast etc) creating Antivirus for Mobile Phones? ( Non supporters know what they don't know or you guys don't know what they know)
I think my question will be answered more in technical way

Please don't say that app developers earn money while people downloading Antivirus apps.

[psychofox13]

Please don't say that app developers earn money while people downloading Antivirus apps.

Antivirus apps are fine if you side-load all of your apps. That is, installing apps outside of the Play Store. They will help with alerting you of reported bad apps. There was a time when the Play Store let just about anything on it, and Lookout stole the show with alerting you to bad apps. Now that's not the case, especially with the way Android has been built with its permission system. In order for apps to use, for example, your storage, they have to ask the system. The system then prompts the user with the request where the user responds yes/no. As long as you're aware of what permissions you're handing out, you don't need any AV apps. As long as you know basic troubleshooting, you don't need any AV apps. As long as you know the basics to Android, you don't need any AV apps. AV apps are literally system hogs that do nothing you can't do yourself.

[krazyatom]

I heard you only need dtek security app.

Posted via CB10

[Gokulraj gr]

Antivirus apps are fine if you side-load all of your apps. That is, installing apps outside of the Play Store. They will help with alerting you of reported bad apps. There was a time when the Play Store let just about anything on it, and Lookout stole the show with alerting you to bad apps. Now that's not the case, especially with the way Android has been built with its permission system. In order for apps to use, for example, your storage, they have to ask the system. The system then prompts the user with the request where the user responds yes/no. As long as you're aware of what permissions you're handing out, you don't need any AV apps. As long as you know basic troubleshooting, you don't need any AV apps. As long as you know the basics to Android, you don't need any AV apps. AV apps are literally system hogs that do nothing you can't do yourself.

Useful info. Is there any possibility of virus affecting while downloading on browser? Also now a days I see many duplicate apps on playstore which is 100% similarity to original. Eg:mcent app(still exist, you can check on play store)

[psychofox13]

Useful info. Is there any possibility of virus affecting while downloading on browser? Also now a days I see many duplicate apps on playstore which is 100% similarity to original. Eg:mcent app(still exist, you can check on play store)

No. The browser in Android does not have system access. Anything you download goes to the download folder, and you have to manually open it. When you do, it will open in an emulated state (or in an app that can open the file), so it won't have system-level access. Your phone is more virus-resistant than Windows or MacOS, haha.

This isn't to say that you can't get an infection. It's just that you have to install it yourself. It won't run on its own. If you plan on downloading questionable things, then you should probably have an AV. Just know that the AV also won't have system-level access, so you won't be able to remove any infections that somehow get into the system.

You may be thinking of some celebrities who had their information stolen from their mobile phones. This is because their carrier had poor security, or they have poor passwords on the apps they use. They are also high-profile targets, and are often in the cross-hairs of hackers.

On a side note: If you spot any duplicate apps that you know are not the original, then you should always report them. Also, always read the comments on the app, and note its rating and the amount of downloads it has.

Android is a lot more secure than it used to be.

[FF22]

Antivirus apps are fine if you side-load all of your apps. That is, installing apps outside of the Play Store. They will help with alerting you of reported bad apps. There was a time when the Play Store let just about anything on it, and Lookout stole the show with alerting you to bad apps. Now that's not the case, especially with the way Android has been built with its permission system. In order for apps to use, for example, your storage, they have to ask the system. The system then prompts the user with the request where the user responds yes/no. As long as you're aware of what permissions you're handing out, you don't need any AV apps. As long as you know basic troubleshooting, you don't need any AV apps. As long as you know the basics to Android, you don't need any AV apps. AV apps are literally system hogs that do nothing you can't do yourself.

I guess I both agree and disagree. Not accusing any particular app nor naming any but ....

I have a weather app. I want the local weather. I also want to possibly save its weather maps. So I need to give it Location Permission for local weather. Fine. But do I want it reporting my location at all times - NO. I want it to inquire about weather where I am but not necessarily to report where I am to its home base - every minute or hour or whenever.

Next, I want to capture that weather map so I give it access to my file storage. But I want to SAVE an image. I don't necessarily want it looking around all of my files, my ID pictures, my doc's reports, my pictures of my home, my pictures of my friends. My bank statements - you get the idea. But that permission is so wide open that I really don't have control. I want to DOWNLOAD but NOT UPLOAD my files.

So granting that pleasant weather app some permissions could open my entire phone's files. It could track me and report my location all of the time. Not saying it does but it or any other app could do that.

I guess I did feel more confident when mainly BB had access to that data. Now, with Android any number of relatively UNknown developers has such access. I guess one could use encryption on all files to gain some measure of control.

Now I'm not saying that the anti-virus or anti-malware apps prevent any of those actions either. But they could be created to report which way internet traffic is going. And possibly prevent outbound files asking: "Do you want to send XYZ App developer/owner Doc Martin's reports file?"

And I'm also not saying that I've got a giant tin foil hat or Maxwell Smart's cone of silence. But these are issues of modern cell use.

[psychofox13]

I guess I both agree and disagree. Not accusing any particular app nor naming any but ....

I have a weather app. I want the local weather. I also want to possibly save its weather maps. So I need to give it Location Permission for local weather. Fine. But do I want it reporting my location at all times - NO. I want it to inquire about weather where I am but not necessarily to report where I am to its home base - every minute or hour or whenever.

Next, I want to capture that weather map so I give it access to my file storage. But I want to SAVE an image. I don't necessarily want it looking around all of my files, my ID pictures, my doc's reports, my pictures of my home, my pictures of my friends. My bank statements - you get the idea. But that permission is so wide open that I really don't have control. I want to DOWNLOAD but NOT UPLOAD my files.

So granting that pleasant weather app some permissions could open my entire phone's files. It could track me and report my location all of the time. Not saying it does but it or any other app could do that.

I guess I did feel more confident when mainly BB had access to that data. Now, with Android any number of relatively UNknown developers has such access. I guess one could use encryption on all files to gain some measure of control.

Now I'm not saying that the anti-virus or anti-malware apps prevent any of those actions either. But they could be created to report which way internet traffic is going. And possibly prevent outbound files asking: "Do you want to send XYZ App developer/owner Doc Martin's reports file?"

And I'm also not saying that I've got a giant tin foil hat or Maxwell Smart's cone of silence. But these are issues of modern cell use.

Totally understandable, and a very common case. Personally, it doesn't bother me, but I know some people who this would bother. Unfortunately, I have yet to find or hear of an AV app that can monitor in/outbound traffic (it has been awhile since I stopped looking into them. Last I had, they were just glorified storage cleaners). It is possible through a VPN, and possible to block certain data going to certain places. I'm sure there is an app that requires "root" access to gain these features too. Unfortunately, for many, VPN's are confusing to use, and root access is not possible with the K1.

With the way Android is built, I don't think it's possible to build an app that can see outbound data and block it without root access. Besides, I'd rather not have an app that has access to literally everything I do between my device and the internet.

[PantherBlitz]

Now I'm not saying that the anti-virus or anti-malware apps prevent any of those actions either. But they could be created to report which way internet traffic is going. And possibly prevent outbound files asking: "Do you want to send XYZ App developer/owner Doc Martin's reports file?"

And I'm also not saying that I've got a giant tin foil hat or Maxwell Smart's cone of silence. But these are issues of modern cell use.

Facebook took their app permission and skimmed metadata on the host's phone calls and texts. I don't think any AV caught them doing that. Unfortunately, I don't think the public would want an AV that bothered users with "technical" issues like that.

[Carjackd]

You don't need any.

This!

[Wezard]

Most banks will let you use a smartphones camera to take a picture of a check and deposit it OTA.
No way will they even consider letting you scan a check into a regular computer and deposit it over the internet.
Just gives you an idea of which device is more secure.
Actually there were a couple of online only banks that used to let you deposit with a scanner and computer, if you met their credit standards. Don't know if they still do.

[cribble2k]

Facebook took their app permission and skimmed metadata on the host's phone calls and texts. I don't think any AV caught them doing that. Unfortunately, I don't think the public would want an AV that bothered users with "technical" issues like that.

I Don't think the DTEK app did anything to protect against what you said.

I could argue I'm better off because I don't use Facebook, and I understand Android well enough that I don't need BlackBerry.