Droid Virus??

[MM1 Payne (US Navy)]

I'm just wondering why would anyone make an app called "Anti-virus". Kinda got me thinking.. Can droids really get viruses? and should people take them more seriously as a threat?

 

[Yodes]

As far as I know there are no viruses for the droid...yet. thoujgh its totally possible it could happen. its not going to hurt you to have one just in case oone comes along but I don't really thinks its needed at least yet anways.

 

[droidkm]

yea, afaik there aren't any viruses yet, so the virus checkers that exist are just junk. and it's possible, but unlikely, that they'll ever really be a problem.

 

[hookbill]

There just isn't enough Droids out there to really make anyone want to launch an attack. It's kind of like the Mac and Windows thing. Windows just outnumbers Mac, dwarfs it in numbers so when people launch an attack they launch it on Windows. Mac's certainly not immune to virus, they just don't get attacked.

iPhone has had one documented attack. And iPhone's dwarf Droids in sales. At least right now. BTW that attack on the iPhone was a pretty harmless attack, a video of some 80''s has been singing.

I wouldn't worry at all about virus attacks on Droids. Yes it's possible but very remote.

 

[lemodular]

Apps made for the iPhone are screened by Apple, I wonder if there is such an entity for Android apps.

 

[KZIWarrior]

Apps made for the iPhone are screened by Apple, I wonder if there is such an entity for Android apps.

Yes and no... apps are monitored and suspicious apps will be removed, BUT for now anyone can post an app w/o any approval or 'official screening'. There was a big thing earlier because someone released several 'banking programs' that looked official and it was discovered that the program was capturing (and sending) private information....

This is just another one of those things that Google is, at some point going to have to address if they really want to be able to have the market as a selling point and not an embarrassment.

 

[lemodular]

While the Android population is currently lower than iPhone, and obviously a virus written for the iPhone will have larger impact, one written for for the Android would be easier to implement.

 

[KevinJ]

I wish people would quit talking about this. It's sure to draw unwanted attention. :-\

 

[KZIWarrior]

I wish people would quit talking about this. It's sure to draw unwanted attention. :-\

Not really... trust me, anyone with the intention and know-how is well aware of it already. Bringing it out into the open will a) make all the noobs aware that there is a risk (though VERY SMALL) and, hopefully b) make Google get off their a$$ and implement the required changes to the market... they SHOULD have done so already after the first batch of malicious apps were discovered....

 

[flameboy]

Don't be a tool and download an Android "anti-virus" app.

1. There are no known Android viruses, so how does this anti-virus app know what to look for? How many app signatures do you think it has?

2. It eats up resources running in the background doing god-knows-what.

3. Since there are no known viruses, there are no independent tests done on any of these "anti virus" apps. No proof at all that they actually do anything

4. Don't fool yourself with a false sense of security.

 

[gentlefury]

There just isn't enough Droids out there to really make anyone want to launch an attack. It's kind of like the Mac and Windows thing. Windows just outnumbers Mac, dwarfs it in numbers so when people launch an attack they launch it on Windows. Mac's certainly not immune to virus, they just don't get attacked.

iPhone has had one documented attack. And iPhone's dwarf Droids in sales. At least right now. BTW that attack on the iPhone was a pretty harmless attack, a video of some 80''s has been singing.

I wouldn't worry at all about virus attacks on Droids. Yes it's possible but very remote.

Wait....someone rick rolled the iphone???? I wanna see that!!

 

[Martin030908]

Don't be a tool and download an Android "anti-virus" app.

1. There are no known Android viruses, so how does this anti-virus app know what to look for? How many app signatures do you think it has?

2. It eats up resources running in the background doing god-knows-what.

3. Since there are no known viruses, there are no independent tests done on any of these "anti virus" apps. No proof at all that they actually do anything

4. Don't fool yourself with a false sense of security.

Nail on the head.