Is it required to have anti-virus and malware protection for android phones?

[Android Central Question]

Hello Everyone, I have been an iPhone user for many many years now but after finding out that they knowingly slow the old phones and crazy price i'm thinking on getting OnePlus 5T. I have seen very good reviews about it and the price is affordable for me.

Since i'm extremely new to Android platform, I want to know if it's required or perhaps MUST to have anti-virus and malware protection in android? Compared to iOS android is much open and as they say insecure?

All the antivirus in play store has millions of downloads, but upon installing them the antivirus itself starts showing ads and a lot of unwanted pop ups etc... even in the apps like Youtube...

So if anyone can give some guidance on this to me would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Mooncatt]

Hello Everyone, I have been an iPhone user for many many years now but after finding out that they knowingly slow the old phones

To be fair, they are not slowing old phones. From my understanding, they are slowing any phone, new or old, which detects a bad battery so that it doesn't suddenly die unexpectedly like they use to. If that happens on yours, replace the battery for restored performance.

As for anti-malware on android, it's generally not needed. Nothing can be installed without your permission, so just maintain safe usage habits:

Don't browse sketchy websites.
Don't be fooled by pop-up ads trying to make you think you've been infected so they can scam you for money.
Don't install apps/apk's from unknown sources.
Stick to Google Play, Amazon's store, or the developers own site.
Don't turn on the option to install from unknown sources (unless you are 100% sure of the app's source, like one of your own backups).

A new issue I noticed is also be wary of those cheap, no name knockoff phones. I recently found reports of one that had malware buried in the OEM's stock ROM. The name brands like LG, Samsung, HTC, etc shouldn't have this problem, but who knows what these other fly by night companies will do.

 

[Rukbat]

Anything connected to the outside world, iPhones, Android phones, laptops, desktops, supercomputers, should have malware protection. (Someone, a long time ago, said that people running Unix didn't have to worry about viruses. Then someone wrote a Unix virus, just to see if it could be done. It got out. The entire world scrambled for days to get computers cleaned out. I don't know how they did things in the USSR, but in New York we were working constantly - no meal breaks, fast bathroom breaks and no going home, until it was all cleared up. iPhones don't need virus protection? That's a good joke, not good advice.)

Do what Mooncatt suggests, then install an antivirus app that doesn't fill your phone with ads and install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware. You won't notice them, but if you should ever get malware that either one recognizes, you've saved yourself from possibly reflashing the phone and starting over again.

 

[recDNA]

Is Norton Antivirus a good one?

 

[chanchan05]

Is Norton Antivirus a good one?

They're all pretty good IMO as long as it's a reputable company (Norton/Symantec, Bitdefender, Kaspersky, Avast, AVG, etc), but my advice is use the same brand you use on your PC if you have one. Most PC antiviruses have a license that covers the premium no ad version of their mobile antivirus as well. This also unlocks features.

 

[Mooncatt]

I can't speak for the android version, but I once heard Norton on pc referred to as a virus that removes other viruses.

 

[chanchan05]

I can't speak for the android version, but I once heard Norton on pc referred to as a virus that removes other viruses.

That's more on because it was so heavy on resources AFAIK. I stopped using Norton years ago because of that.

 

[Mooncatt]

That's more on because it was so heavy on resources AFAIK. I stopped using Norton years ago because of that.

I heard it was because it embedded itself so deep into your system that it was near impossible to uninstall it. I can see the security benefit of that (after all, smart virus programmers would make uninstalling anti-malware programs part of the virus' actions), but Norton took that to the extreme.

 

[chanchan05]

I heard it was because it embedded itself so deep into your system that it was near impossible to uninstall it. I can see the security benefit of that (after all, smart virus programmers would make uninstalling anti-malware programs part of the virus' actions), but Norton took that to the extreme.

I think most AVs did that. I mean that's why you needed uninstall tools for a lot of them.