Do you need to download an anti-virus for Android?
So my workplace is mostly iPhone users and someone asked me what kind of antivirus software I used on my Android, and I said “none” and he flipped out about how unsafe it was. Other people chimed in saying how all androids need antivirus apps and I’ve never heard of such a thing. I do have ad-blockers and a VPN but never downloaded an antivirus. Should I? If so, what would you recommend? Thanks lemmings, love you.
As long as you lock the bootloader, GrapheneOS operates the same as stock Android in this regard. If anything, you’d be safer on GrapheneOS because of the extra control you get over app permissions.
But I personally use ESET. It did catch a few things a few times. Specifically some of the shady modded APKs, which is expected. VirusTotal.com is also of help with those.
I’m gonna say no, but not for the same reasons as other commenters.
Android isn’t as safe as iOS in that you’re way more likely to get an app that harvests your data on the Play Store. That being said, there’s almost no chance of you getting a device-breaking bug or app on Android vs. on iOS.
Now, if you’re worried about data collection, whether you have an antivirus is the least of your concerns. You need to evaluate every single service that you currently use or pay for and see how they use your data. Google and Meta harvest all of it. Your telecom provider harvests a ton of it. The big retail chains you shop at, your banks, your credit/debit card payment processor, your ISP, etc. all collect data that they then sell to data brokers. Any data that is sent to data brokers can be bought by basically anyone who wants it. Even if all of your data is nuked from these brokers, data breaches at various companies or government agencies can and do happen. Even if those breaches never happen, some of your info is kept in the public record and can’t be erased.
So, if you want to do anything to protect yourself, don’t get an antivirus. Instead, just try to scrub your personal info off the internet the best you can.
Basically due to how locked down phones are compared to computers, it’s nearly impossible (though not impossible) to get a virus. Not only that, but being so locked-down means that even if your anti virus did work, it wouldn’t actually be able to do anything about it. But what an AV can do is read all the data that goes into your phone and collect it for the company to sell it for a profit, and that’s why phone AVs exist.
Computer AVs are already shaky enough as is (McAfee is so insecure that actual hackers use it to get into computers) but there are a lot of cases where they can save your ass due to computers just being pretty insecure in general. I’ve used Malwarebytes twice to save me from dark web viruses, but that was a case where I installed it, ran the scan, killed the virus, then uninstalled. You don’t need one running all the time. In most cases your OS will imply common-sense restrictions if it sees you don’t have an AV and in a lot of cases those end up making your computer way more protected than the security theatre most AVs employ.
There have been far more severe iPhone exploits in the past year or two compared to Android ones.
Apple will never take the brand hit of allowing third party security software, so maybe let your pals know a brand’s fragile ego is putting them in an arguably more perilous position.
There are corporate security solutions and monitoring available for iOS (ex: CrowdStrike Falcon which I handle at work) but since there are privacy implications, it cannot be installed with full privileges unless the phone is registered to the business in Apple Business Manager and set in supervised mode.
I never have. Keep your shit updated, use a digital condom (ad/malware blocker), and dont go to shady websites offering free games and such and you are fine.
Maybe against the grain, here, with all the comments saying No, but: If you were interested in trying something out, I would give Hypatia a go. It’s a FOSS-based app, available on F-droid. It’s basically a ClamAV front-end. Pulls from their signature lists for Android, alongside other more general AV signature lists. Just an option.
Absolutely. Everyone here is acting like PDF and JPEG exploits on Android don’t exist.
I agree that OP shouldn’t pay for one, and that most AV apps are, at best, garbage, but there are also reasons to have one, and reasonable ones to install - Hypatia being one of them.
Given the restrictive nature of mobile operating systems, such exploits are much less impactful than on desktop OSs. Furthermore, if you are dealing with those exploits, you are probably victim of a targeted attack, which is well above what normal users worry about.
Add comment