Malware up 427%

[vonfink13]

Just wondering what the forum thinks about all this...

Android Malware Up 427 Percent Since July

 

[UrbanBounca]

It's expected in an open-source market. I don't download unless it's by a developer I know is trustworthy or an app that's been around for awhile.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk

 

[Graymayre]

Yep, make sure you have Lookout. It can't protect against everything, but it helps. Nothing beats caution.

The answer is 42.
Oh, wait, you mean to tell me you need to know the question now?
Well, I can't answer that.

 

[dezymond]

It's expected in an open-source market. I don't download unless it's by a developer I know is trustworthy or an app that's been around for awhile.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk

+1

Open source market means there are bound to be some bad apples. I don't know why anyone would purposely do such a thing, but just be careful of what you download.

 

[TC_Mits]

Just wondering what the forum thinks about all this...

Android Malware Up 427 Percent Since July

I think that,for the most part, it doesn't. Google doesn't vet apps in the market, so there are no guarantees. Don't leave your valuables in the car. It's a rough neighborhood, and this town doesn't have a police force. And the worst part is that all the crooks are ghosts.

Eventually, and probably sooner, it will get very bad. But that doesn't mean anyone will do anything about it.

Perspective instantiates reality.
( By DX w/DF app. )

 

[William_04_x]

A local tv news station did a quick spot about that statistic last night. At the end they mentioned the iphone has 50% market share.

Google is going to have to eventually do something if trust and security are questionable.

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using DroidForums

 

[jayman350]

Yep, make sure you have Lookout. It can't protect against everything, but it helps. Nothing beats caution.

The answer is 42.
Oh, wait, you mean to tell me you need to know the question now?
Well, I can't answer that.

ugh, lookout is the biggest resource and battery hog I have ever come across. I tried it on my OG DROID and it brought it to a crawl, uninstalled. I figured I would give it another shot on the Bionic, figuring no way it would be as bad....it seems that it will take up as much resources as possible, regardless of whether you are on an OC 1.1GHz D1 or the dual-core 1GHz Bionic. I used it for a day on the Bionic and had to uninstall b/c it made it almost unusable.

be aware of what you are installing, don't install things from random websites that offer free versions of paid apps, just use common sense.

 

[gflam]

Yea definitely agree don't pirate you don't know what your gonna get. I've experienced this myself as an app dev watching people use pirated versions of my apps and I always put little clues in I look for if the app is pirated that will show up. They get no help from me obviously. The thing is the pirate changes code and if they're doing something illegal to begin with they can be changing a lot more as well. Takes one line of code to wipe an sd for instance.

Play it safe download only from trusted devs and people who have a good track record and actually read the permissions its requesting. If there's something weird there email the dev about it and hopefully they'll reply why they need the permission if not be even more cautious or look for alternatives.

Sent from my evo 3d at 1.8ghz

 

[TC_Mits]

...
Google is going to have to eventually do something if trust and security are questionable.

Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using DroidForums

MS Windows had serious issues, idk, before Vista, and bad press was a killer for a while. If Android isn't secured you won't see much of the business sector dollar.
I don't think that apps are the only exposure, either, media files, email, messaging - lotsa ways for malware to slip in.

Perspective instantiates reality.
( By DX w/DF app. )

 

[Natey2]

Malware loves Android:
http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/21/8932272-mcafee-malware-loves-android

Sent from my unrooted DroidX using Tapatalk

 

[ilikemoneygreen]

Id say their is a fundmental difference between microsoft computers and android. comparing the two in virus department doesnt really compute. Android designed in a sandboxed mode, their is no access to any system files, no danger to access files that youd think of like on windows registry... So that kind of virus doesnt really happen on android. Second their are apps that could access other app data but youd be the one giving it permission to. And their are apps out their that can actuallly take away certain app permissions so if you dont like facebook app accessing contacts then youll be able to take that permission away. granted those are root given apps but that community is pretty large. Overall the whole virus and android thing is easy to find, review comments people make on the apps you download and look at the permissions your granting certain apps. Now Windows, thats a whole different ball game. 1 click on a certain .exe and boom, that virus just copied itself to 50 different spots on your hard drive and your stuck downloading malwarebytes running a scan at 4 in the morning. :biggrin:

 

[rubiksc00p]

Now Windows, thats a whole different ball game. 1 click on a certain .exe and boom, that virus just copied itself to 50 different spots on your hard drive and your stuck downloading malwarebytes running a scan at 4 in the morning. :biggrin:

Not that anyone has ever had experience with such things... xD

I think the whole virus thing is way overplayed sometimes. I've never used an antivirus and I've never had problems. I downloaded a few one time but they made my device slow and it was pointless. I think the antivirus software is worse than an actual Android virus mostly because they don't exist! xD

Maybe somewhere down the line. Once anything becomes popular, there are going to be viruses.
But basically guys, just download credible apps. You can tell when an app's not legit!

 

[ilikemoneygreen]

Not that anyone has ever had experience with such things... xD

I think the whole virus thing is way overplayed sometimes. I've never used an antivirus and I've never had problems. I downloaded a few one time but they made my device slow and it was pointless. I think the antivirus software is worse than an actual Android virus mostly because they don't exist! xD

Maybe somewhere down the line. Once anything becomes popular, there are going to be viruses.
But basically guys, just download credible apps. You can tell when an app's not legit!

I personally have a virus app, lookout, but i turn off the "virus scanner." It has a great locate and scream feature that is awesome. If you lose you phone you cant see where it is on any pc. im waiting for my phone to get stolen so i can be like, "Its in the mall and right in front of the counter at McDonalds." Would be amazing.

 

[TC_Mits]

Did either of you guys read the article? Might be a good place to start.
Or if that's too much, just check out the title of the thread...

Perspective instantiates reality.
( By DX w/DF app. )

 

[SFGate]

Being new to all of this, I wasn't aware that Google does not check the apps in its Market. Learned a lot from the article and this thread. I will be more careful in the future.