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Android may not need antivirus software, researcher says

#1 User is offline   Macworld Icon

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Posted 07 November 2008 - 10:49 AM

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#2 User is offline   RobK Icon

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Posted 07 November 2008 - 01:25 PM

"the user would decline the download, realizing that a Scrabble game shouldn’t need to read from an e-mail account"
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#3 User is offline   bjojade Icon

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Posted 07 November 2008 - 01:57 PM

User stupidity is the most common way current trojans get spread. It's so easy to click the OK button that people don't think twice.
While a company can patch holes quickly, it's quicker for a security company to just flag exploits than to re-write code to fix problems. Still, I don't think it's worth the dollars for the minimal added security.
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#4 User is offline   diorist Icon

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Posted 10 November 2008 - 08:51 AM

Many, many apps from the Android market require root and/or account access. The user must allow these exceptions on install, really without being given any information on which to base a risk judgment. You can call it stupidity, but it's really just practicality: You want the app, you take the leap. And once you realize you have to allow root access for the G1 equivalent of Notepad, systems privileges just get to feeling pretty dang promiscuous.
As for whether the data is worth accessing...of course it is. Identity data, account data, business data, medical data...it's all in there. In fact, the G1 is even more attractive because it's not just a phone; it's a tiny little portal to the Googleverse. Honestly, statements like "people generally don’t use their phones to access or send the same kind of important data that they do on their PCs," are simply ignorant.
Android needs to get off its butt and get serious about security for the G1. Antivirus software is just a bandaid. Real information protection needs to be baked in to the core, vigilantly monitored, and constantly updated.
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