Does antivirus software need to be installed on your Android phone?
While it might not be necessary, it’s still a good idea. Android malware does exist but the threat is exaggerated. So, it is better to be safe rather than sorry.
There are a number of horror stories that one gets to hear about Android malware. In fact, last year hackers had discovered a way to hide malicious Android code in images. Only this year, Palo Alto Networks brought up an Android vulnerability that could affect almost half of Android users.
Of course, Google wants to reassure users that the issue is well under control. Quite conspicuously, it avoids the name malware and uses the ‘Potentially Harmful Applications’ instead. Also, according to Android’s first-ever Security in Review, it was reported that only one percent of Android users had caught malware on their phones.
That said, you must remember that these are Google’s statistics.
Of course, there are other objective reports that also reveal that the threat is exaggerated. A popular tech journalist, Bill Snyder, says that a number of companies have exaggerated this fear in order to profit from it.
He says, “Whether you’re hawking handguns or security software, scaring the bejesus out of your potential customer base is often a winning ploy.”
That said, he says that the number of actors that are around are close to none. If you look at the large number of Web pages to find ‘serious mobile exploits’, there are barely any around.
That said, although Bill might be right, it’s still a good idea to use Avast Mobile Security while only downloading apps from the Google Play Store.