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Android virus/trojan...

leSLIe

leSLIe

Fully [H]
Joined
Oct 18, 2004
Messages
17,698
So, I want to check if my android phone has virus.
I could install one of those Android AV, but if it's infected it might not work properly. :eek:

I could try connecting the phone to my PC, and running MSE... but would MSE (or any other AV) detect an Android virus/trojan?

The phone is not rooted btw
 
Have you installed apps from outside of the Play Store? If not, you almost certainly don't have any viruses or trojans.

The AV apps are mostly scams, and no, connecting it to your computer won't allow you to scan it.
 
kllrnohj said:
Have you installed apps from outside of the Play Store? If not, you almost certainly don't have any viruses or trojans.

The AV apps are mostly scams, and no, connecting it to your computer won't allow you to scan it.
Click to expand...
This.


...and MSE wouldn't do shit to fix an Android virus since most Android viruses are typically derived from Linux exploits.

Without root, there is not much harm a rouge or malicious app can do. The most it could probably do is maybe mine your contacts As long as you haven't installed anything sketchy off the play market as well as anything 3rd party, you should be fine.
 
leSLIe said:
you don't read the news very often don't ya? FYI there are virus/trojan in the Google Play site :eek:
http://arstechnica.com/business/new...found-hosting-malicious-android-appsagain.ars
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/03/googles-chome-web-store-used-to-spread-malware.ars

And no, I don't install apps from outsite the official channel.
Google Play site is not as "secure" as the Apple one
https://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/accountability-not-code-quality-makes-ios-safer-android-042012
Click to expand...
Apple exercises very strict control over their ecosystem. Google does not. You have to use common sense. Read the reviews, don't download the "Sexy Ladies 8" type apps and you will be fine.
 
Try lookout, thats what I use and it scans all your stuff and offers other forms of protection.
 
kgoldman1 said:
Try lookout, thats what I use and it scans all your stuff and offers other forms of protection.
Click to expand...
....but it couldn't mess with applications (where said virus would be) without root access. My guess is it just data mines. :p
 
leSLIe said:
and here is another virus, well a proof-of-concept Trojan :eek:

http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/news/android-motion-capture-trojan-74270
Click to expand...

Read the article:

"The research builds on the fact that smartphone applications don’t need any particular security clearance to access information from motion sensors. While their Trojan application was built for Android, the researchers said Apple’s iPhone also makes motion-sensor data available to unprivileged applications."


Besides, you're missing the point. "Antivirus apps" for Android can't exist because you can't scan another program without root.

Every Single Antivirus App For Android Is A SCAM
 
ChronoReverse said:
Read the article:

"The research builds on the fact that smartphone applications don’t need any particular security clearance to access information from motion sensors. While their Trojan application was built for Android, the researchers said Apple’s iPhone also makes motion-sensor data available to unprivileged applications."


Besides, you're missing the point. "Antivirus apps" for Android can't exist because you can't scan another program without root.

Every Single Antivirus App For Android Is A SCAM
Click to expand...

Well, that was the reason I was asking in the first place, because I didn't know about that! :p
 
leSLIe said:
you don't read the news very often don't ya? FYI there are virus/trojan in the Google Play site :eek:
http://arstechnica.com/business/new...found-hosting-malicious-android-appsagain.ars
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2012/03/googles-chome-web-store-used-to-spread-malware.ars

And no, I don't install apps from outsite the official channel.
Google Play site is not as "secure" as the Apple one
https://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/accountability-not-code-quality-makes-ios-safer-android-042012
Click to expand...

1) Malware != virus/trojan. Malware has now been expanded to include apps that are simply spammy and display ads all the time, as well as those that harvest your data *that you give it permission to do*. If you actually follow your first link through to McAffee's blog, you'll see that even though it is called a trojan it really isn't. It doesn't break Android's security mechanisms, so if you installed one of those apps you agreed in advance to give it access to your contacts, which is what it then uploaded.

More importantly, though, you'll note that the apps were removed before the article was even published. Google is staying on top of this stuff. And when they have found legitimate security risks (which afaik only happened once), they actually deleted the app from people's phones as well as removed it from the market.

2) Your second link is about the Chrome store, not the Play Store - two different things

3) Your third link is random speculation
 
kllrnohj said:
1) Malware != virus/trojan. Malware has now been expanded to include apps that are simply spammy and display ads all the time, as well as those that harvest your data *that you give it permission to do*. If you actually follow your first link through to McAffee's blog, you'll see that even though it is called a trojan it really isn't. It doesn't break Android's security mechanisms, so if you installed one of those apps you agreed in advance to give it access to your contacts, which is what it then uploaded.

More importantly, though, you'll note that the apps were removed before the article was even published. Google is staying on top of this stuff. And when they have found legitimate security risks (which afaik only happened once), they actually deleted the app from people's phones as well as removed it from the market.

2) Your second link is about the Chrome store, not the Play Store - two different things

3) Your third link is random speculation
Click to expand...

1) Malware = not good on your phone

2) Guess who's the owner of those two sites?

3) random speculation? pfftt!! :rolleyes:
 
leSLIe said:
1) Malware = not good on your phone

2) Guess who's the owner of those two sites?

3) random speculation? pfftt!! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

READ what he stated about expanding the definition of malware, by that definition plenty of popular apps on both ios and android are malware. Also same umbrella company does not mean they are the same. I hope that you're trolling or just being defensive rather than being so dense.
 
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