Do i need antivirus to surf the web?

[spetzie5]

I do quite a bit of web surfing from my phone. I understand that it is not necessary for an antivirus to download apps from google play but do you need one if you are on the web a lot? I don't download anything directly from the internet on my phone - just look at websites.

 

[Preformer19]

I do quite a bit of web surfing from my phone. I understand that it is not necessary for an antivirus to download apps from google play but do you need one if you are on the web a lot? I don't download anything directly from the internet on my phone - just look at websites.

It's not needed. I wouldn't worry about it.

Although I have Lookout Mobile Security that scans for a mobile network threat...

 

[jd914]

Take what you know about anti virus and completely forgot about it. Regardless of what you hear and others tell you, you absolutely don't need anti virus on an Android device since it simply doesn't exist. Services like lookout and avg are nothing but memory sucking bloatware. Just get all your apps from the Play Store and you'll never encounter malware issues. I speak from experience because I've been on Android since Eclair and not one have I had malware of any kind.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[spetzie5]

Thanks for the replies. As stated I ONLY download from the google play store. I was just worried about going to a potentially malicious website without knowing but from the sounds of things there are very few malicious threats on android. Is that correct?
Sorry I have been an iphone user for many years and am absolutely loving the m8 but I know very little of android security measures.

 

[Geezerb]

Many apps have been pulled from the play store long after they have done their damage.

Sent from my HTC One M8

 

[anon(7894520)]

antivirus is bloatware and will slow your system down.

however there is nothing as important as peace of mind so my recommendation if you are new to android and feel an AV will rest your mind go for an app that also provides other services. lookout for instance is an AV *and* it has anti-theft tools, if that is your thing. clean master is an AV and cleans leftover cache or junk stored in your phone over time...


myself particularly avoid AVs like the plague. i ditched clean master once it included an AV engine in favour of another that does just maintenance. but that's just me and everyone uses their phone differently. if you download torrents, visit dodgy sites and download pirated apps perhaps you need one. i know i dont.

 

[anon(7894520)]

Many apps have been pulled from the play store long after they have done their damage.

Sent from my HTC One M8

ya but those were some very obscure dodgy apps.

with some little common sense you won't even find those apps, let alone download them.

also i read that google has taken a tougher stance as of late to guarantee a certain level of security in the app store.