My phone isn't a target (Nokia N8 running latest Symbian). I don't feel the need to run antivirus in it. When I buy my next phone (probably a "to be released" Nokia with Windows Phone 8 ), I may consider adding an av.
An antivirus is mainly useful at finding adware like Airpush. It's unlikely that popular apps will turn out to be malware. Most Android AVs were shown to be bunk, with a few exceptions (Dr Web, Zoner, etc). I think it's a waste of CPU time to run an AV guard full time on a phone/tablet, but the occasional scan doesn't hurt. Ads: AdFree (for HOSTS based adblocking): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bigtincan.android.adfree Airpush Detector (faster than a Dr Web scan) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.brosmike.airpushdetector Lookout Ad Network Detector https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lookout.addetector A security researcher demonstrated the way to introduce a malicious app on the Android Market / Google Play was to make an innocuous app, then incrementally introduce updates that ask for more and more intrusive permissions. For this reason turning off auto updates for less known apps, and keeping an eye on permissions is a good idea. Permissions: Addons Detector https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.denper.addonsdetector Permission Explorer: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.carlocriniti.android.permission_explorer Permissions Denied (can alter permissions) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stericson.permissions Suspicious Apps https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.websplatter.suspicious
I felt the same way when I had my Droid 2. Running a Lumia 900 now. I still don't feel the need for phone AV, yet anyway. We'll see if that changes when Windows Phone 8 comes out. If I can afford one.
My Galaxy S II drains enough battery idling, let alone during normal usage. I can't imagine how it would be with an AV.
It's not necessary to use a realtime guard, you can just do a scan once in awhile. It's possible though that they'll start an inert process on bootup, but shouldn't necessarily eat CPU time/battery. Apps autostarting on Android are annoying.
i have AVAST on my HTC ONE X running ICS mainly in-case someday i loose it and rare infection possibilities and of course it has a very solid firewall. its free and worth it.
I still hate bloat on phones. Right now i'm running a stripped down custom rom. Just in case anyone wants to know what's the name of the build. It's SlimICS v4.1 based on Android 4.0.4 and custom kernel.
Currently testing out Sophos Mobile Security on Android (free) which has on-demand scanning (and on-install scanning), remote lock and wipe, and a privacy report on what apps can do certain things. All good and very light so far (it isn't constantly scanning everything!)
Sounds good; I'll eventually try out some custom ROMs. I've loads to learn, as I don't like not having the same amount of control as I do over my PC!
Yeah, most widely used custom ROMs are quite good, in my case i can do everything in SlimICS v4.1, it only comes with GMail and Superuser installed. It does not even comes with Google bloat such as Talk, Maps and others. Up to now, i still haven't experienced any issues with SlimICS and i do lots of things with my phone. -Tethering & Wi-Fi sharing -Syncing phone with bluetooth headset -Syncing phone with car, it shows contacts and all that info -Using GPS navigation
