droid and viruses

[droidism]

I was just scrolling through the market and came across some virus protectors and scanners. is the droid suseptible to viruses or malware?
thanks for the info...:motdroidhoriz:

 

[RinTinTigger]

Hey,

we had this couple of toimes here (the search function couldve been of help )

I think there is NO NEED for anti-virus software. Android is a rather young Linux derivate. As known, there r virusses vor linux and they DO occur, but not as often as for Windows or Windows Mobile. So, if you use your BRAIN (brain.exe version 5.0!) and dont click on unknown links/sites or install apps from unknown sources and stuff, there weill be nooooo neeed for anti-virus programms!

 

[garrett]

to write a virus for anything on a linux platform is extremely hard as the virus would need root access to do just about anything. As new as this platform is and nobody has figured out how to root it yet i highly doubt there is anything out there.

 

[RinTinTigger]

Totally agree on garrett here,
though i know that it is just a matter of time to gain root access to an open sourced system, but as i said....USE YOUR BRAINS!

 

[New2u]

I agree with those statements, in my sticky on security i was trying to point out that while this system alone may not have much threat against it right now, that may not be the case in the future. No system is 100% safe. Right now the system is so new and the ability to root it has not come out to my knowledge. Just remember to surf safe and be aware.

 

[RinTinTigger]

Exactly....

you wouldn click on pc on a link on an email that says "CLECK HERE! INSTANTLY!! GET HOT NAKED CHICKS!!!" ....so why do that on your phone.

Human awareness is the best anti-virus there is. I always remember my mom called me and said "i got an email from my lawyer. I have to pay 800€!" So i got home and looked at the mail and it said thet the sender was JUST "lawyer" it wasnt even HER lawyer.....

so you wouldn click on that stuff aye?

 

[Liderc]

I had spyware pop up today telling me to "download their antivrus because my pc was infected!" =P Happened on a very well known site that I and hundreds of thousands of people use every day, so it's possible to get malware on this phone, as they said virus' are harder because root access is needed.

 

[garrett]

I had spyware pop up today telling me to "download their antivrus because my pc was infected!" =P Happened on a very well known site that I and hundreds of thousands of people use every day, so it's possible to get malware on this phone, as they said virus' are harder because root access is needed.

just an FYI malware only applies to windows PC's and windows based operating systems.

for malware to work it does require root access.

 

[hughesjr]

I had spyware pop up today telling me to "download their antivrus because my pc was infected!" =P Happened on a very well known site that I and hundreds of thousands of people use every day, so it's possible to get malware on this phone, as they said virus' are harder because root access is needed.

You did not have a virus on your driod, you had a popup in your web browser designed to have you install an exe file for windows on your computer.

In this case, that file will not install on the driod (or any linux computer for that matter).

If a website makes a popup happen via your browser, that does not mean you have anything bad installed on your machine ... even in windows.