Best Android Antivirus/Security App

[YeOldeStonecat]

Re: wiping the phone, can do that from Exchange Server.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

Malware has made it to the google play store on several occasions and thats just the ones I know about. .

Above statistic I quoted said about 0.5% of made it through. So yes...on "several occasions" I'm sure, never doubted that.

On several occasions people have crossed the road and gotten hit by a car...but that doesn't stop me, I'm capable of using my head, watching, looking, listening..basically using caution before crossing the road.

I guess my point was...I'm careful what I install. I'm not like a 6 year old kid that downloads/installs any old game/app he finds each and every day, eventually they'll land on something bad. I rarely install apps on my phone...and the small amount of ones on my phone, are well known trusted ones.

Not to mention..when you install an app...do you give it access to everything? Or carefully select what it can? Lets think about this one for a minute....how many of us IT guys preach to our clients "don't go nilly willy installing those apps and allow all those toolbars and other add-on programs to install". How many times do we laugh out loud at the end users that have a half dozen toolbars installed in their browser and other junkware, from hurriedly clicking through the "next..next...next" install processes of freeware? So these IT guys are admitting their incapable of doing that themselves on their own phones? Hmmmm....

I don't consider this at all like some computer end user saying "Ah I don't need antivirus" like someone else mentioned in this thread either. Anyone experienced in IT and current malware trends knows that the greater percentage of todays malware spread on the web is done through things we cannot control...advertising banners and various websites that got compromised by scripts that exploit oudated java/flash/pdfs, outdated browsers, etc. Talk about an apples to oranges comparison...LOL.

I'm sure the day will get here when a 3rd party security app is needed for smart phones...it's already happened to Apple Mac users, it's already happened for *nix users. It'll happen for phone users. But the day isn't there yet for me....the increase in battery life is well worth the very very slight risk for me.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

Above statistic I quoted said about 0.5% of made it through. So yes...on "several occasions" I'm sure, never doubted that.

On several occasions people have crossed the road and gotten hit by a car...but that doesn't stop me, I'm capable of using my head, watching, looking, listening..basically using caution before crossing the road.

I guess my point was...I'm careful what I install. I'm not like a 6 year old kid that downloads/installs any old game/app he finds each and every day, eventually they'll land on something bad. I rarely install apps on my phone...and the small amount of ones on my phone, are well known trusted ones.

Not to mention..when you install an app...do you give it access to everything? Or carefully select what it can? Lets think about this one for a minute....how many of us IT guys preach to our clients "don't go nilly willy installing those apps and allow all those toolbars and other add-on programs to install". How many times do we laugh out loud at the end users that have a half dozen toolbars installed in their browser and other junkware, from hurriedly clicking through the "next..next...next" install processes of freeware? So these IT guys are admitting their incapable of doing that themselves on their own phones? Hmmmm....

I don't consider this at all like some computer end user saying "Ah I don't need antivirus" like someone else mentioned in this thread either. Anyone experienced in IT and current malware trends knows that the greater percentage of todays malware spread on the web is done through things we cannot control...advertising banners and various websites that got compromised by scripts that exploit oudated java/flash/pdfs, outdated browsers, etc. Talk about an apples to oranges comparison...LOL.

I'm sure the day will get here when a 3rd party security app is needed for smart phones...it's already happened to Apple Mac users, it's already happened for *nix users. It'll happen for phone users. But the day isn't there yet for me....the increase in battery life is well worth the very very slight risk for me.

Believe that the malware that showed up on the android store was spoofing legit apps but yeah permissions were different though. I install a lot of stuff..my atrix phones for example have custom firmware that came with many different apps preinstalled.

I don't really look at it like...why install one, I look at it like why not? you got the virus scanner and the nice anti theft features..sure avast has some extra stuff in it that i disable but same thing with the home version. I haven't noticed a change in battery life yet but it does have statistic gathering for data usage. Im sure certain features of it will drain some battery though.

I dont think its apples and oranges, I could block all ads, remove java, flash, etc and stick to legit sites and have extremely good odds and run without an AV for that tiny hair of extra performance but why not just keep the AV?

Edit: To clarify im not saying its the exact same thing either, when I made the comment about sounding like a customer it was intended as a joke because of how he worded it.

 

[DocGreen]

No offense Stonecat, but you sound like a professional driver explaining that they don't need to wear their seatbelt because they're an excellent driver and know exactly what they're doing.

Sure, the vast majority of us will never need the seatbelt... but we still wear it. Its a minor inconvenience, but we would never want to be caught without it on the rare occasion it IS needed. I feel the same way about antivirus. The vast majority of us won't need it... but the day you lose your phone you'll wish you had something that could locate it for you. IMO, its well worth the negligible performance hit.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

No offense Stonecat, but you sound like a professional driver explaining that they don't need to wear their seatbelt because they're an excellent driver and know exactly what they're doing.

I still don't see it....on the road, one can't control what others are doing. I could get hit by a drunk running through a red light. On my phone, I can control it.

That analogy would work for surfing out on the internet with a WINtel computer.
Suppose 1 app to do securi

RE: seatbelts Actually I only do it because it's the law in my state and those 100 dollar tickets started to pile up. Especially when I had a Jeep and drove with the doors off and top down in the summer, too easy to be seen without it. But at least my state doesn't require helmets on motorcycles so there's no confusion there.