Malware & Viruses

[Jim Capel]

Greetings,

I got my wife a Galaxy Tab 3 for Xmas. It's our first tablet. Are there issues with viruses or malware we should be aware of, and if so, is there some kind of protection app we should obtain?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Aquila]

If you are not installing apps from third party markets or websites (so you get apps from the Play Store) and you're even halfway practical about choosing between the majority of legitimate apps versus the few obvious fake apps, then most people are fine with that alone. As with any app store, it's important to read app permissions, reviews and to look at the rating and download count, as well as other apps by the same developer (mostly to make sure it's who you're expecting it to be). A little bit of caution and prudence goes a long ways. If that isn't enough, I'd recommend reading about AVG and Lookout, but I generally also advise that many default functions of anti-virus software are detrimental and/or fear mongering functions, so caution and prudence there as well. Good luck!

 

[Golfdriver97]

Greetings,

I got my wife a Galaxy Tab 3 for Xmas. It's our first tablet. Are there issues with viruses or malware we should be aware of, and if so, is there some kind of protection app we should obtain?

Thanks for your help.

I agree with NIT in the post above. I use AVG, and while I am not worried about getting a virus on my Android devices, many anti virus programs often warn you if an app is intrusive, which AVG does.

Another thing to be weary of is what is called sideloading apps. This is done by downloading off the internet and placing on your device and loading it through a file explorer.

 

[Relgoshan]

Anti virus does not have the system permissions to do ANYthing about whatever it finds, they just suck up your CPU. Google has the "yoink" functionality, and be sure to let it verify and monitor unknown apps if you're concerned. Google has the power to remove even non-Play apps from stock Android devices if deemed harmful enough.

 

[brosko]

Anti virus does not have the system permissions to do ANYthing about whatever it finds, they just suck up your CPU. Google has the "yoink" functionality, and be sure to let it verify and monitor unknown apps if you're concerned. Google has the power to remove even non-Play apps from stock Android devices if deemed harmful enough.

This I didn't know. So you are saying lookout is worthless as an anti virus program?

 

[Relgoshan]

The most any scanning app can do is delete an .apk or .rar, using ordinary file read/write access. Actual virii can mess with the file system permissions if they can inject code into the kernel, which even Google remote removal cannot always fix. If you get an infection the best thing to try is checking over at XDA-Dev. But..like with Apple devices the main goal of most infections is to silently steal billing information so you wouldn't know anything is wrong anyways. Sorry.