Is the built in anti virus on the P9 sufficient or is it advisable to download another one.
Any advice please.?
1. There are no viruses on Android
2. Most of apps that call them self anitivirus are nothing more but crap that beside sucking memory and battery do nothing
3. Most of problems that people call "virus" is nothing more but some crappy made app that mess up phone performance or download few other crappy apps in background like lockscreen or cleaner.
4. Build in antivirus on Huawei is just icon that do nothing... because it dont have anything to do, BECAUSE look at point 1.
Im using android for almost... forever of it existing, I was rooting and giving free access to all apps i could, I once did test and clicked all ads and installed all shady apps I could find, give them root access... and beside few more crappy apps that they downloaded in background... NOTHING.
Even my router logs didnt show any weird data that was send/recived in phone.
All you can get on your phone is viruses that are made for PC, that will transfer them self to it when you connect it to PC, this is only example that I know that someone had related to "viruses", but it was not even made for android...
All you need to do, to keep your device in good shape and safe, is to keep it clean, use build in cleaner that is good for removing trash files, and keeping an eye on permissions of apps, if app dont need internet access or contact list, remove that permission.
Simple as that...
This is pretty much it. Don't be the user that installs 5 cleaning apps / anti-viruses and wonder why the phone is so slow. I see users every week that slow their phone down with this stuff.
Related
Hello all, i just bought an android G1 from a friend, when it came it was already installed cyanogen mod, then i thought it should of rooted, (by the way i dont know how to root or how to check if its rooted) i am very new on this platform so i have many problems and questions but for now , i tried to change google account which was my frends account to use g1 with all 100 percenti but i couldnt find any proper way to switch my google account, then i finally found hard reset thing and did it, after all i could log on my google on my g1 and i felt a bit shocked with all those missing parts on the android platform as a winmo user before, even my HTC artemis had better skills on internet browsing such flash support over skyfire and easy wifi DNS change and have free web browsing without banned pages.. anyways i was trying to install some games and apps from the market till i got the notification of low memorry ohhh ****, its a nightmare to have hundreds of apps but no place to install, how stupid but then i found a solution on the net to help installin apps directly to your sd card, while i was following this steps on the xda forum pages, i restarted my fone again after having the img file launched with 1.4 version, then i realized all my installed apps icons were lost, then i saw they were gone from my g1 but when i go to app store, they are still on my downloaded programms list, but they are not in storage, thats becase now i cant install them again because they are seen already installed, how can i fix this problem guys , and thanks for the help already.!!!!!!1
Hey, thanks for steppin' up! No matter how snarky I get, or how nice I am, some people just don't get it. It's always great when someone does get it.
If you have a cyanogenmod, then you have root.
How can i get my apps back from the market when they show apps are already installed?
I guess I'd uninstall and reinstall from within the Market App. Open "Market," click on a listing of an app that says it's installed but you can't see in your app drawer (the program for the Home screen and app drawer is call Launcher.apk... apk is the equivalent of exe, more or less). on the bottom of the screen there should be two buttons, Open and Unistall. I'd uninstall and reinstall the ones you want that way.
Yeah, I miss WinMo, too. I still use PhatPad in my old phone and PC. But the capacitive screen really is nicer for fingers, and I'm more addicted to XDA and hacking phones than I am to having a hard-core useful phone (although the native ouTube App beats any I've found for WinMo, and I actually use the native contacts app). I got tired of the bugs, too, since they'd hose the whole OS and force you to decide to reboot. Android just blows past an error and lets it not work, but keeps the OS up. When I'd run out of memory or something in WinMo on an incoming call, the phone would freeze, and then there's a 3 minute reboot. In Android, it just slows down so I get less ring time to answer, but I can call back right away, and it boots in two minutes.
Java makes really nice interfaces and games, too.
I think it'll be about a year or so and Android will be running on par with WinMo (WinPh?) with Flash and alternative browsers apps, and has a few more things to offer that other smartphone OS's can't. It's fun finding them. It's been really exciting watching the progress, and how hard people work for little or no money, just because it's open source.
Oh, and PhatPad was $44. My current Note app, NoteEverything was $2. I miss the stylus and making animations, but that's it. I certainly don't miss Activesync.
yes you are right, but the buttons in the market of that application, are both missing, inactive, you cannot click both of them, thats why i cant uninstall or install or open the app.. i still wonder how to clear the app store cache without factory reset or hard reset which is a really long way to follow.
Say I download an *.apk file from some site or I get one from a friend, could it potentially harm my phone, cost me money etc.? Basically what I'm wondering is, when I install an app it generally says what the app has/wants access to, is this "warning" coded by the programmer to tell the user what it's accessing or is it determined automatically by built in functions? I don't want to install and app that has access to stuff that I'm not aware of.
Regards,
B
Edit: On a second note. Say I do download some harmful application, would uninstalling it solve the problem or could there be remaining harmful files still at work? The whole Android OS is sorta worrying me...bad experiences with Windows is making me cautious.
if you can think of it
there can always be a chance of happening
yes, a malicious hacker could do something like that
yes, a pissed programmer might including something like that into their apps to stop people from sharing their apps without buying it
yes, the apk might be legit but might have been corrupted some how
yes, you might be able to uninstall if lucky
but worse case scenario if i were a malicious hacker i wouldn't code a way to uninstall the app, instead i'll probably code a way to lock the user out of all access forcing you to Flash the phone from scratch
You didn't really answer my one major question, or maybe you did but I didn't understand. Are the services that the app is able to access programmed or are they determined by a function?
Well when installing I've resorted to checking a few things:
1) Make sure the app that I've downloaded is the same size as the one in the market (for equivalent versions...obviously)
2) Compare the system permissions when installing with those found at www.androlib.com
This way seems pretty safe to me. If the size is the same and the permissions are the same...you can be quite (not 100%) certain that they are legit/the same.
Ok heres the deal. Apps have 2 types of access.
1. Standard permissions
So if u don't do adb-install (where u dont see an app's permissions), then market / copy to sdcard and install from there u'll see the permission screen. An app cannot do something w/o permissions. If an uninstaller is askin for email permissions u know somethings wrong.
2. Root
Most dangerous. An app will ask u for 0 standard android api permissions. But when u run it, u will be asked for a superuser allow/deny request. From their its up to you. An app could do anything behind the scenes from tht point.
So read reviews/ user comments before trying root apps. Standard apps, just look over the permissions thts all.
FYI : The permissions are read by android, they're not user defined. Any permissions will always show up when installing it using the native package manager.
To be honest I wouldn't advise downloading an .apk from a non-trusted source. If its on the market, you're near certainly ok, and if its from a trusted developer (say from these boards, or some other similar dev portal) then again, you are likely to be ok. In the second case, you are unlikely to be getting a finished app if you get a straight apk from boards, because when they are finished or at least solid, they go to the app store anyway, so harm in that case is more likely to be of the force close variety rather than bricked variety.
Outside of that, I can't see why you would get an apk from a friend rather than downloading it yourself, simply because that way it makes certain you get a clean, non-corrupted version. If apps don't show up in the market for you, its mostly because your device can't run them, in which case, again, force close.
Uninstalling it is possibly too late. All smartphones suffer this issue though.
As mentioned, if you get the files from market though, you are likely to be safe..
Also, not all melicious programs are obvious..
Daneshm90 said:
Ok heres the deal. Apps have 2 types of access.
1. Standard permissions
So if u don't do adb-install (where u dont see an app's permissions), then market / copy to sdcard and install from there u'll see the permission screen. An app cannot do something w/o permissions. If an uninstaller is askin for email permissions u know somethings wrong.
2. Root
Most dangerous. An app will ask u for 0 standard android api permissions. But when u run it, u will be asked for a superuser allow/deny request. From their its up to you. An app could do anything behind the scenes from tht point.
So read reviews/ user comments before trying root apps. Standard apps, just look over the permissions thts all.
FYI : The permissions are read by android, they're not user defined. Any permissions will always show up when installing it using the native package manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EXACTLY what I was looking for. Thank you.
Btw, just because security on App store says an app can do stuff like make phone calls etc, doesn't mean it's malicious.
A few people were misled by an article that stated that apps with such extreme permissions were malicious, but it's untrue. It isn't always the case, but if an app uses functionality you don't believe it should, it's possible it is dodgy
andrewluecke said:
Btw, just because security on App store says an app can do stuff like make phone calls etc, doesn't mean it's malicious.
A few people were misled by an article that stated that apps with such extreme permissions were malicious, but it's untrue. It isn't always the case, but if an app uses functionality you don't believe it should, it's possible it is dodgy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aye, I know. Thanks for the advice. I've actually been comparing any app I download off the internet to the actual ones on the market (size and permissions).
Hi everyone im a noob member to the site but have read some interesting threads before membership but as usual joining when i have a problem that needs some of your help
I have had a .apk file download to my htc desire running 2.2.2. I was browsing pics of the fake kind when it started downloading. i did see some letters and numbers before the file ext. It is not an official .apk that im sure off. I have searched for it on my phone but cannot find it to delete .
can anyone help please
After hooking up htc to my pc by usb lead, I have managed to locate the file by searching. It was in the download folder, I deleted it via the pc and then did a factory reset on htc.
Would this get rid of it safely
Are these types of apps worth having on your phone? Like is there even a moderate chance you could get a virus (especially if you dont do lots of downloading)? I currently have the AVG free app and I find it kind of annoying having it scan everything I download and having it say protected by AVG on my screen, etc.
I have never heard of anyone getting a virus on their smartphone so I', leaning towards removing the AVG app. Would this be a mistake?
The only malware that are on Android affects Android versions < 2.3.3. You're fine.
As long as you're getting trustworthy apps on the market with a lot of downloads and not from a 3rd-party unauthorized website/app market/whatever. You're fine.
I personally use Lookout for the GPS feature, the Anti-Virus is just a sidebonus. I disable scheduled scanning because its not worth it.
It's much harder for malware to worm its way onto your Android than on a desktop OS. Generally it happens when people hide malicious activity in seemingly harmless apps. The only way to protect against that is to look at the requested permissions when you install things are make sure it is only using things it needs. Also, check the comments and use reputable developers from the Android Market.
Even these antivirus tools can't protect you from a malicious app though cos they have no way of knowing what you meant to allow the app to do and what it's doing without telling you.
i'm using Lookout it's free, and non memory resident if you choose not to
but still works when you install something new, it tells you if it's safe or not
I m using AVG as well as Lookout.. actually jsut trying them out. Thinking should I keep or Uninstall ? :/
there are also Symantec Antivirus, and McAfee both also "free" for basic features just like Lookout
but no where near as good and easy to use as Lookout
and there are a whole slew of new comers go the Antivirus industry for smartphones which i don't even recognize their names
a simple search for antivirus on market comes out with 3+ pages of well known and not so well known results
https://market.android.com/search?q=antivirus&c=apps
I did search and most of the threads refer to actual Phones.
I have a Nook Color that I am currently using the SD Boot method to run CM7. I want to cut out all the stuff that really has nothing to do with basic reading and Internet activity if possible. Like the dialer, and voice, text to speech, basically anything that relates to text messaging and phone calls.
Is there a smooth way to do this that won't result in a bricked SD OS?
I thought of using Titanium Backup to just "Freeze" anything I didn't want but I don't know if that will even work.
Is there a list anywhere on here of what can commonly/easily be removed and still maintain a "tablet-like" functionality?
thanks in advance for any suggestions or links!
All evidence indicates that removing these services (usually be deleting the .apk files) has no impact on performance or battery life, and may introduce compatibility issues with apps that expect to find them.
Don't worry about it. The apps being there don't hurt anything.
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See the CM wiki
I removed Bluetooth stuff, cmstat, telephony.apk, phone.apk, setupwizard, setup, and a whole host of other services I don't use. Why do I need blue tooth when I am not going to use it. Others will say there is no harm and battery life is not impacted...probaly true. However there is one one benefit that cannot be ignored...it gives back memory to the nook that was not being used.
EDIT My roommate and I discussed after I posted and he said just leave it alone. No harm done. I said true, but he removed bloatware from his phone...and other apps he did not use or need. Then I replied, why can't I do the same thing. If i am not going to use it, or its not needed, makes sense to me just remove them. BTW, I used root explorer to remove the apks. Its been a while since I did it and never really had any problems.
I don't use an antivirus on my windows desktop, I always keep an eye in msconfig and task manager (I know most of the processes), services.msc, unusual behavior, etc, once a year I run an antivirus scan never found anything, I have been clean for more than 3 years.
I have previously installed lookout on my Note but found it to slowdown the system a little bit, so I removed it, and now I don't have any antivirus but I keep an eye at the running proccesses, but I'm unsure if that's the way to spot a running background virus in a linux system
what do you guys do or advise doing to look out for viruses on android?
Are you rooted? If not then don't worry about Viruses.
If you are rooted don't install any shady apps outside from the Android market or make sure any non market apps are from trusted sources.
Also read this:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/1147650...dDLPv#114765095157367281222/posts/ZqPvFwdDLPv
Actually, even the apps on the Android market, approved by Google, are not safe. There have been couple incidents of rogue apps show up in market last year. Good thing is Google are proactively plugging those OS exploits that these rogue apps use (they will auto-root your phone). So, if you're on latest Gingerbread OS (2.3.4 or later), most of those exploits no longer work. But there is now a new exploit now been used here on XDA to root the phone (search ZergRush). Not sure if this will be used in next wave of rogue apps. Remember, just because you installed an app from market, doesn't mean it is safe. Google made zero effort to review those apps.
thanks a lot for the article, it is a lot like I suspected, specially about companies bullshitting us to get to buy their antivirus software
about web based virus, from that I'm 90% safe because I only access the same websites every day, unless one of them gets attacked I'm sure I won't get a virus from them
and yes, I'm rooted... two things I wonder are:
1 - shouldn't an infected app show the permission pop up asking for root access? I'm not exactly sure but I think there are ways to circunvent that and force root access without permission
2 - if I'm infected and perform a full wipe (cache, dalvik, factory reset) and change roms, can I still be infected? I ask this because I noticed that some folders aren't affected when performing a full wipe, the rom goes into /system, and the factory reset only cleans /data. So there is no way to completely clean a system I guess.
As someone who works in internet security, I have to tell you that you really should be running anti-virus on your desktop.
Yes, there's a lot of marketing and fear-mongering from some companies to buy their products. But it doesn't matter if you think you're tech-savvy and that you check task manager and only visit "safe websites". Any website can deliver drive-by downloads that infect your computer without you knowing. Rootkits are completely undetectable from simply checking your listed processes and services.
And your websites might be safe and legit, but all sorts of malware and exploits are delivered through ads. Even visiting Google search recently infected users.
Anti-virus is a crappy technology (there's better alternatives), but stop being so idealogical and just install the damn thing.
---------- Post added at 03:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:24 PM ----------
inurb said:
Also read this:
https://plus.google.com/u/0/1147650...dDLPv#114765095157367281222/posts/ZqPvFwdDLPv
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the link. That's a terrible, terrible article though that completely misses the point.
It's a typical viewpoint from a large company like Google. Their interest is in what % of their users are affected by X and Y.
There is certainly no "widespread problem" with viruses on Android or indeed Linux. But the vulnerabilities are HUGE. The only reason they're not exploited more is because of the size of the userbase. Android (and to a lesser extent Ubuntu) is growing to such an extent that it is going to become a very serious problem, very soon.
As to the now: there is very little chance of being infected out of millions of normal users. But if you're doing sensitive work, then it does make sense to seek extra protection, as the Linux and Android vulnerabilities are so big that if someone actively targets you, it will be easy.
If you're not using sensitive data on your Note, then sure, don't worry about it.
edanfalls said:
As someone who works in internet security, I have to tell you that you really should be running anti-virus on your desktop.
....
Anti-virus is a crappy technology (there's better alternatives), but stop being so idealogical and just install the damn thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your advise is sound but just one tiny flaw:
As you posted, AV softwares are crappy technologies. They rarely ever catch anything, especially worthless towards the browser plugin based malwares. And yet, they DO make every PC installed with them 10x slower. So, in the end, installing AV software doing more damage to your PC on daily basises.
Use 'LBE Safety Master' (root required) and you will be fully protected.
lbe doesn't protect with reboot. Wonder if apps can make use of that flaw, logg and send when API or connection becomes available.
Better alternative, if you can get a patch would be forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1357056
I guess one must take into mind the shift of definition from virus/malware to user approved info gathering through permissions lmao.
You can install droidwall and check it's logs for connections. Setting it up can be tedious due to dependent stuff.
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