Security Apps: Lookout MobileSecurity,Wave Secure Mobile Security, AVG : Are they good or Bad.

[B33]

Please Post With Your Opinion Thanks: 

[kneekahliss]

my 2 cents...

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As of right now they are bad more than good. They bog down the device & they use a decent amount of the battery. Why do you need something scanning for malware when there is so few trojans & rootkits for android. All of those are not made public to the script kiddies. Chances are it wont even find a zero day because these are signature based scanners.

You have a higher chance of getting RUSED by not paying attention to the permissions an app wants when you install it. For example you install a card game but it wants permission to your GPS location, phone, contacts and text messaging. WHY in the world would a card game need all that yet you didnt look and installed it FROM THE MARKET. Guess what. Some install another app by the same company and now can track YOU bcz you installed the card game which now is giving away your GPS location.  THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED, look it up!!

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Do you see the bigger security risk here? Its the human factor. As it is in computers.

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I do see a need for this software in the future. Especially if your device is rooted. As for look out with telling you where your phone is, many apps do that.

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Bottom line, if you have a power house android it doesnt hurt as long as its not a big battery killer and lag your phone.

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If you have a under powered android my suggestion would be its not needed at this point.

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what do you think? Kudos to me or no!??

[Ann154]

@dincx110
Actually it's a hard choice.
Lookout is stable and does what it says it will do. I haven't been willing to try their premium service yet.
Avg antivirus free has a few more options that I like. But bugs I mentioned above could be deal breakers.
I'm going to keep the antivirus free on my phone for a few days and see if it changes my mind.

[kschaub]

I run Lookout on my DInc. However, I don't think it is important to have a virus scanner on your phone. For months, I have run the scanner without any hint of a problem on my phone. If you surf and add apps responsibly, you don't have much to worry about. I likewise have a scanner for my Mac and for our machines running Linux, but they never return any issues because the threats are just not that great.

In fact, I'm leaning toward kicking Lookout off of my phone because the battery performance seems a little dodgy since installing it. Lookout does back up your contacts and offers a location tracker if you lose your phone; but these options are also available with other services, including the back-up services VZW offers. For what it's worth, what I am saying is, AV apps just don't seem to be worth the time and battery resources at this time.

[Wildman]

I noticed one thing about AVG which I am really stating to lean towards a False/Positive situation because a number of users have reported that AVG detects everything related to unlocking a device and apps the needs root access as infected...  That doesn't sound like a reliable scan to me.  Sounds like if it can't understand the sources reason for being there it must be a virus...  I may have to place it on my test unit and see what it comes up with, my everyday device came up clean.

The app has a good amount of potential but it scan isn't reliable its not work using,  but this is still just a first impression, I will try to update on any new outcomes.

[B33]

Thank u Guys for putting ur Two cents an More on this Subject of the Security!  Apps I Appreciate it!: As we all find out How these apps work  for Us and our individual phones: And if There are others Folks that have a commit on these Apps. Feel free to give ur Thougts As Well:    Thank You

[Ann154]

Came across this article today.  After reading it, I am glad that I have an antivirus app on my phone.  BTW went back to Lookout for the time being.

Take a look and come your own conclusions.

http://phandroid.com/2010/12/15/android-malware-attacks-up-significantly-from-last-year/

[Wildman]

Ann154 that article is starting become so true, since more users are able to perform all the similar options on there phone that a pc can do and not to forget the level of popularity Android is developing it shouldn't be very surprising that it will get targeted for attacks.  In actuality no one will know a virus attack ever happened on a device until a method is developed to detect it, the scan method still hasn't been refined but there is only time that these type of apps will become a required feature, I am willing to test them out now to avoid issue later.

[kneekahliss]

That article is crap. Its not even an article its a paragraph. Of course android is a target since its widley used. Of course it increases yearly as the user base grows. Let's see some examples. Let's hear a personal experience. Let's talk to one of the dev from (site omitted for script kiddies).

Brings it back around to human stupidity being the #1 cause

[Ann154]

I don't think threat risk is all that big now either, but the application Isn't doing harm on my phone. I rather have then not and is there when it is truly needed.

As I wrote before you can take a look and come to your own conclusions.

Here is a link from the company that was quoted. It is just one of their webpages to their website.
http://www.adaptivemobile.com/global-security-insight-centre/compound-threats

[IDhiker]

I guess I am overly cautious with my X. I run Lookout because of it's antivirus capability and I run Mobile Recovery because of its ability to lock the phone remotely or clear it if you deem necessary, your choice. They provide location and alarm to assist locating.

[nickjr]

I use webroot av, I have it installed on my pc and it works very well, it also scans the sd card

[terrilozano]

Was told by VZ: I didn't need one.. DriodX is automaticly protected.

[LoydroidX]

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terrilozano wrote:

Was told by VZ: I didn't need one.. DriodX is automaticly protected.

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I was told the same thing by a Verizon tech about Lookout.  When i was having battery issues, he immediately uninstalled Lookout and said I didn't need a virus checker/scanner.  

[kneekahliss]

It is time now people. rootkits and trojans in the market. at least install scan your phone then uninstall.

http://blog.mylookout.com/2011/03/security-alert-malware-found-in-official-android-market-droiddream...

[droidsw]

Lookout is an app that also scans your phone files and apps at the time that you download. I like it for some of its other options, i.e., remote locator.

However, as long as you (we) are very careful about what apps you install and files you download, along with keeping up on the latest news, you (we) can pretty much rely on Google, Lookout and the rest to identify, remove and patch malware attacks.

Dreamdroid, droiddream, whatever, was already in the market and I would imagine even if you had Lookout, or any other AV app installed, it would have slipped by until it was identified. So, in some instances we are all vulnerable, regardless.

The argument can go back and forth as to whether having an AV app installed is good, or bad.

[DocBrown]

I can see that antivirus, malware and such is not as needed (yet). But the main reason I will have either Lookout or WaveSecure is the ability to wipe the data on the phone remotely if I loose it or it is stolen. At least that's what they claim. Maybe someone can chime in and let us all know if this really works as advertised. It seems to as far as I can tell, but I'm sure there are ways to circumvent them. It seems that from what I have read, WaveSecure is embedded in such a way that it seems to protect from someone trying to uninstall it or break into the phone.

I do realize the phone must be on and in range of service to be wiped and (I guess) not in airplane mode.

Comments? Other info?

[Wildman]

How is it not needed if there has been proof of multiple attempts that has been verified from Android themselves?  You have your own opinion but once one attempt is verified in the wild others are coming..  And I am sorry but the tech that told you that need to put the pipe down, there is no such thing as a os that can protect against being infected, the only reason a os hasn't been attacked is because it isn't the commonly used software, a hacker does not choose to infect one or two devices they work to infect as many possible.  The more Android become popular means the more the software will be attacked.

Some of the apps that was pulled from the market was rooting the device it was installed of to grant them free access to the device.   This is coming from the same techs that would tell you to hard reset your device because it wont connect to your bluetooth. Users have a habit of making sure to protect themselves but think it is strange when the device fries because a infected file was allowed to run free through the device unrestricted.  That is a backward way to view things, the real world is built around people taking from others. 

I guess if a cobra is bitting your rear but you choose not to acknoledge it you wont die...  wake up to the REAL world.... its the electronic age, you have a better chance of being attacked through the web than in person...

http://community.vzw.com/t5/DROID-Apps/Google-pulls-50-malicious-Android-apps-how-2-defend-your-Droi...

http://community.vzw.com/t5/DROID-Apps/Update-on-Android-Attack-Fake-Android-security-fix-is-really/...

[Elicia]

I have been using lookout for over 6months on my Droid with no problems. I really like the backup contacts part of it also since my Droid didn't come with the Backup Assistance option.