Do I need an antivirus for my android Mobile phone?

ferry

Just curious
I see avast do one for android if I need one?

Cheers

agrinnall

No you don't.

Gillor

agrinnall wrote: »

No you don't.

Really?

I don't use an Android phone but that doesn't seem to be the view of the cognoscenti.

For example....

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/test-centre/security/best-mobile-antivirus-2016-2017-uk-best-android-antivirus-3646925/

Gravedigger

I do some banking from my android phone. I installed Bitdefender but sometimes my bank says there's no AV on the phone. I think belt and braces job and perhaps better to have one than not. :cool:

Stoke

Gillor wrote: »

Really?

I don't use an Android phone but that doesn't seem to be the view of the cognoscenti.

For example....

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/test-centre/security/best-mobile-antivirus-2016-2017-uk-best-android-antivirus-3646925/

Regardless of that poorly researched article. No you don't. Not really anyway. The effectiveness of those anti virus apps is questionable at best.

Gillor

Stoke wrote: »

No you don't. Not really anyway...

Is that a yes, a no or I am not sure.

Stoke wrote: »

... The effectiveness of those anti virus apps is questionable at best.

By whom? Google?

Stoke wrote: »

... …poorly researched article….

Try this one….


https://www.av-test.org/en/news/news-single-view/endurance-test-with-25-apps-the-best-security-apps-for-android/

AndyPix

No you absolutely do not need an AV on your android device ..


Phones and tablets are NOT computers, regardless if we choose to use them in this way.
Each app doesnt have access to the others or to the system space.


An AV installed on a phone can do nothing except look at the filenames of the other installed apps
thats it
you can do that yourself


An AV on a phone has absolutely no way of interacting with any other app so it cant see the behaviour of any other app and so has no way of telling if it is doing "virusy" stuff.
It also cant analyse the composition of another app and so heuristics is out of the window.


All it can do, is read you list of installed apps and say "hey ! this apps name matches one that i have in a text file that my creators say is a virus"


Total bobbins and just another way for pc world to earn some commision and for the AV companies to promote themselves in the hope you will buy their propper product for an actual computer

ballyblack

No

This has been discussed here on the 'mobile phone board' recently


The consensus was No need for antivirus which only slows down the phone



.

Madbags

ballyblack wrote: »

No

This has been discussed here on the 'mobile phone board' recently


The consensus was No need for antivirus which only slows down the phone



.

I never read the thread you mention but I agree in any respect.


I've never downloaded, installed or used antivirus on my phone. To be honest, if I did get a virus on my phone somehow, it would be my own fault.


If you're looking at potentially risky and dodgy websites or their mobile equivalents and downloading strange looking apps then maybe I'd recommend it but for normal use it seems completely pointless.

Stoke

Gillor wrote: »

Is that a yes, a no or I am not sure.

By whom? Google?

Try this one….

https://www.av-test.org/en/news/news-single-view/endurance-test-with-25-apps-the-best-security-apps-for-android/

It's a no, you don't need it......

Gillor

Quote from OFCOM commissioned report “Study into the implications of Smartphone Operating System Technology 2013….

Smartphones can be vulnerable to targeted attacks that successfully use mobile malware.