Are antivirus apps really necessary anymore?

[Lecrae116]

I have a Sprint HTC one (Not rooted) and I'm wandering if installing antivirus software like lookout is a waste of time and money. Feedback is welcome

 

[4ringsa6]

Re: Is antivirus apps really necessary anymore?

Same here. I guess it's necessary for rooted devices or devices that side load apps.

Sent from my Nexus quattro

 

[VidJunky]

Re: Is antivirus apps really necessary anymore?

If you search around you'll get both yes and no answers to this question as well as testimonials to advocate one or the other, but being a long time forum member I have to say that I have not ever read a thread about someone actually having a virus on any android device. More often those experiencing virus type symptoms have downloaded an app with too many permissions. Apps can use something called Push Notifications and these can put alerts in your notification bar. Other apps ask for personal information when you sign in or sign up and will send you spam to your email or text messages that cause charges. Android is a sandboxed OS and isn't completely hack proof it does require you to give permission for certain connections to occur. Your best defense against a malicious attack with Android is to only download trusted apps from trusted services, read not only the permissions but the reviews of an app, look at how many people have downloaded the app and how many people have given the app a poor rating, and finally read more of the poor rating app reviews than the positive ones. Positive reviews can be faked or solicited so they are not completely unreliable but also suspect, while poor reviews usually tell more about an app. Now that's not to say that there aren't some useless poor reviews out there, but if you read 5 or 6 bad reviews about an app you'll begin to see what potentially can be a problem. If you choose to download apps from the web, which I have, Google the app just to see what pops up about it. Just being aware of what you allow on your device will probably server you better than shelling out money for something that won't do anything for you if you give an app permission to access your personal data and you start getting texts at $10 a pop or your inbox begins filling up.

 

[anon(7894520)]

Re: Is antivirus apps really necessary anymore?

If you search around you'll get both yes and no answers to this question as well as testimonials to advocate one or the other, but being a long time forum member I have to say that I have not ever read a thread about someone actually having a virus on any android device. More often those experiencing virus type symptoms have downloaded an app with too many permissions. Apps can use something called Push Notifications and these can put alerts in your notification bar. Other apps ask for personal information when you sign in or sign up and will send you spam to your email or text messages that cause charges. Android is a sandboxed OS and isn't completely hack proof it does require you to give permission for certain connections to occur. Your best defense against a malicious attack with Android is to only download trusted apps from trusted services, read not only the permissions but the reviews of an app, look at how many people have downloaded the app and how many people have given the app a poor rating, and finally read more of the poor rating app reviews than the positive ones. Positive reviews can be faked or solicited so they are not completely unreliable but also suspect, while poor reviews usually tell more about an app. Now that's not to say that there aren't some useless poor reviews out there, but if you read 5 or 6 bad reviews about an app you'll begin to see what potentially can be a problem. If you choose to download apps from the web, which I have, Google the app just to see what pops up about it. Just being aware of what you allow on your device will probably server you better than shelling out money for something that won't do anything for you if you give an app permission to access your personal data and you start getting texts at $10 a pop or your inbox begins filling up.

all this can be summed up with: use common sense.


if you lack common sense perhaps an anti-virus is your best option.


i personally detest anti-virus on any system (desktop and mobile). they are all with no exception resource hogs that remain active in memory scanning every file and site.


as vidjunky said finding a virus today is extremely rare you really have to go looking for one and because the anti-virus companies are aware of this they have included a number of different features to their software package to make it relevant (file cleaning, location services, etc). some of these features may be worth your while but you'll likely also find them in other software package without the virus scan engine.


for instance if you want an app that locates your phone rich in features but without the anti-virus you could take a look at cerberus, or gotya! which do not include an anti-virus .