Odd website in Chrome, possible malware on LG Nexus 5?

modernenglish

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Aug 8, 2014
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Hi,

Yesterday I opened Chrome and noticed some pornsite I hadn't opened was open in a tab. I don't recall clicking on an ad by accident or doing anything else that could've opened a site in Chrome, haven't installed any apps outside the Play Store etc. so I'm curious where that came from.

I haven't installed a virus scan, but I'll do so in a minute and run a scan. I'm pretty sure my Android is up to date.

As someone who's new to Android and easily paranoid I'd like to know a few things, all answers are greatly appreciated.

1. What could've caused this site to open, other than me clicking an ad by accident
2. Is running a virus scan sufficient, and what virus scan would you recommend
3. How can I find out if my phone has been infected in any way
4. Should I do a soft reset, hard reset or nothing of the kind

Thank you so much in advance, I'm a bit worried about this. :p
 

VidJunky

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Dec 6, 2011
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Malware and viruses are very rare for Android. You may try to install an antivirus app, however these are mostly gimmicks to get you to install their app. That being said, the most likely cause is another app with permission to access the internet. Usually these apps push notifications to your notification bar however they sometimes change your home page or open pages when your browser is open. While you may have gotten the app from the Play Store the apps on the Play Store are not guaranteed to not do these things and count on people to not fully read or understand the permissions they are asking for and allow them to do as they wish. A better suggestion than an antivirus app is an app called AirPush. This app will scan your other apps and look for certain permissions and tell tell signs that the app may be up to no good. I know it sounds like an antivirus app but this is different. It will return a list of apps that may cause different types of issues. From there I would go to the Play Store and read the reviews of the app. See what people are saying and that should help you decide what is causing your issue. Most times you are not the first to have problems with an app and often people will post these issues in their reviews. To reduce your search I would only look at the 1 and 2 star reviews.

About Android;
Android is a sandboxed OS and is less likely to pick up viruses and malware due to the difficulty of writing code to break down its walls. Sandboxed systems do not allow the freedom of communication that most malicious scripts need to do their dirty work. You can Google Sandboxed OS for a more detailed description and better explanation, but generally it just doesn't have enough access to do the bad things.

My rules for installing apps;
1. Install apps that are from the service provider.
If you want a 4Square app, install the one provided by 4Square over Joe Smoe. The provider is far less likely to put in these little add ons because they want you to use their app and enjoy your experience.
2. Don't install any app with a rating lower than 3.5 stars.
Low rated apps are low rated for a reason.
3. Don't install apps with just as many people giving it 5 stars as 1 star.
Devs will not give their app a low rating however they will give them fake reviews to counter the poor ones and boost the rating.
4. Read the 1 and 2 star reviews.
If there is an issue with an app these will be the ones that reveal these issues. Higher rated reviews are not always real or trust worthy.
5. Don't be first.
If an app has 300 downloads there haven't been enough people trying it out to have an accurate rating. If it's something a friend recommended talk to others about the app to get a better feel for the app before installing it on your device.

Good Luck
 

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