Mobile Security Test March 2015

Mobile Security Test March 2015 is now available at http://www.av-comparatives.org/.

 

CM Security wasn't tested for once, and this appears to be a smaller range of products, but interesting nonetheless.

 

GData and Anjouitiusiastia at the bottom. Who would have thought.

 

Do you guys use an AV on your phones? I don't.

 

nope, I visit the Android forums and they tell you if you're not too stupid to be installing every app under the sun from unknown developers, there is no need for an AV. From my experience, it only cripples the phone and makes it jerky when navigating pages not as smooth as it should be. This is from someone who uses a Galaxy Note 4

 

Yeah I hear you man. I used to be site staff over there and normally advised against it. Nice phone. I have a Nexus 6.

 

Loving the battery + camera man! The screen size is just perfect (for me at least) as well.

 

Nice I thought about the Note 4. But I don't have a use for the S-Pen and not a fan of Touchwiz. Still a great device though.

 

I've had this phone for 2 weeks and not once have I been tempted to take out the S Pen and use it! I just bought it after doing so much research and it came out on top in terms of battery life, screen, camera, removable SD Card

 

Is that right? To me that phone is great if you are going to us ethe S-Pen. If not, then well lol.

 

I didn't really care about the S-Pen, it's a hassle for me to take it out and I feel like my hand isn't free to do other stuff if I'm holding the pen or maybe I don't really know yet how to make real use of it. The reason I bought it as I said is no other phone in the market offers such a huge battery life + wanting a good screen and a good camera, this was the best,

I was gonna buy the S6 initially but then the small battery even smaller than the S5 turned me off, along with the insane price of the 128GB model and a worse camera even though on paper they're almost the same......don't believe meh?

Look at the red carpet image in this link:

Intergalactic camera shootout: Galaxy S6 vs. Galaxy S5 vs. Note 4 vs. iPhone 6 - page 2 - GSMArena.com

Scroll down till you see the comparison of the red carpet on the balcony, the S6 doesn't show any of the lines of the carpet while the Note 4 shows them clearly.

 

I hear you bro. I don't want to derail this thread however. Let's stick to the topic shall we?

 

Not to interrupt your extended personal conversation but;

I consider android security at least, if not more important than a desktop. I've found many compromises on devices, and depending on what is on your device if it is not properly secured then your threat surface goes up dramatically. For example having Facebook APP on the phone being compromised, can/does compromise it elsewhere. With that being said, I only find a 'few' Android AV's that don't cause any issues.. Bit Defender, Norton, Trend all seem to work as they should, don't slow down the phone, and don't seem to draw battery life down. Also, the remote control/recovery systems on Norton and Trend are amazing.. Remote tracking, phone wiping, snap pictures of people using your phone, etc. All great features to have in an emergency. Permissions are key, but also an app that 'updates' can update and suddenly start pushing malicious advertisements in the background, and you'd not realize it unless you had security.

 

You have to be a complete idiot to get malware on an Android device. So unless someone is a complete fool, or is installing apps from third party sources the chances of getting malware on your phone is slim. Also FYI. https://static.googleusercontent.co...Google_Android_Security_2014_Report_Final.pdf

 

this, plus he'd manually have to go to the settings and remove the default protection that only allows you to install apps from trusted sources. It's like saying yes virus makes infect me. I only buy apps from trusted sources and carefully review each apps' permissions so I have no need for it. For kids though, it might be a good reason, not something I'm ready to cripply my buttery smooth device with though.

 

Agreed. For kids it may be a good idea but even then. Le sigh.

 

real story: we had last week one customer with an Android tablet being hit by ransomware. She downloaded only apps from Google play (and the AV on the device did not protect her). Ultimately the malicious app got removed automatically when updating/synchronizing the apps with Google play in safe mode (as it was not possible to install/run AV apps in safe mode). Bottom line: the risk to encounter might be very minimal, but it is not zero, even if use only Google play (even if malware gets removed from stores very fast, if you are a teenager with only one tablet, not being able to use it for several days can be annoying). App name: CuteFonts

 

Ive yet to see an infected device. Seems to me that they are few and far between. AV companies and Apple fan boys like to diss Android saying its infested with Malware etc. Google has gotten better at vetting apps. But an app like CuteFonts sounds suspicious to me right off the bat. The best AV software for an Android device is the person holding the device in their hands.

 

+1. btw, it was the first time we saw a user from our city with ransomware on Android.

 

Crazy man. Good to know however. I am not saying that there is zero chance by the way. Ive run and tested a lot of AV's on Android and Windows devices. Most of the ones for Android are overkill and bloated. They end up killing performance or draining the battery with wakelocks. At this point in time, I just think its not worth running them. In the future, that may change. I hope it does not.

 

I have security app just be sure because things do sneak past Google scanning service. And because it has other cool features like settings lockdown, lockdown of important apps (like Google Authenticator) and phone tracking if stolen.

 

Well if one wants to download Cute Fonts or Cute Smilies offcourse not only Android but any device can be compromised. The head is the best AV on mobile devices.

 

If anything, you should take Android security more seriously. The reason is much of your life can be on a mobile device, and if it's not secured, then you are opening yourself up for compromises. I've run into plenty of Android malware, most recently a string of CA replacements, which of course often is 'warned' about by the device, which then allows the CA to be de-authorized - requiring user action. I've seen MITM types of compromises, and remote control compromises as well.

Which is why I keep my phone 'limited' to the very basics, and 'reset' it every month or so. But I agree with Rezjor in that often the AV products have any 'cool' features that are worth it. I think some folks are in for a surprise as more Android exploit/compromise disclosures come out. Google has a vested interest in keeping the security myth of Android perpetuated. Remember, 2014 saw more Linux exploits and compromises than people thought was possible, just a few years prior many people felt it was fairly bulletproof.

 

All good points but I still think its overkill that the malware problem on Android is hyped up far too much. So, what AV do you guys run on your devices? Just curious.

 

There is a thread for that - https://www.wilderssecurity.com/threads/what-is-your-android-security-setup-these-days.359465/

Warning - most of it is paranoia setup