Google Could be Working on Android Malware Scanner

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house70

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Funny thing is, NO app can self-install on an Android device. The user HAS to give it permission first.
Another thing is, if the user does not heed the warnings, it doesn't matter how many warnings you give him/her. They'll go ahead and ignore them.
 

tomaz99

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Recently, a major Android security flaw was discovered that causes all of the data stored on an Android-powered smartphone to be erased.

Why mention this? This wasn't malware but a security flaw (which was patched)...probably worse than malware.

Just don't see how it's related, unless you list all the security flaws...maybe it was an FYI "...plus some other bad stuff too".
 

house70

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[citation][nom]tomaz99[/nom]Recently, a major Android security flaw was discovered that causes all of the data stored on an Android-powered smartphone to be erased.Why mention this? This wasn't malware but a security flaw (which was patched)...probably worse than malware.Just don't see how it's related, unless you list all the security flaws...maybe it was an FYI "...plus some other bad stuff too".[/citation]
[citation][nom]aftcomet[/nom]Two things Android needs to improve upon:1. Optimization2. Security[/citation]
Android by DEFAULT has very strong security measures in place, ranging from no root access to disabling third-party app markets and requiring users' authorization for every permission and install.
Once you change things, you step on unstable ground, and one should not modify their OS unless one knows exactly what they're doing.
Optimization: improved long time ago since 4.0. Now on JB even better. You need to use them.
 

rosen380

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Well, there are cases where people think they are installing one thing and it turns out to be something else. Even when it asks for permissions that 'Angry Birds' wouldn't need, I'm sure some people are in a rush to get to their game and might just agree to anything.

Sure, most of the Tom's readers are less likely to be affected by such a thing, but more and more Smart Phone users are just those people who click on every link in their email and every pop-up on their PC.

 

house70

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[citation][nom]rosen380[/nom]Well, there are cases where people think they are installing one thing and it turns out to be something else. Even when it asks for permissions that 'Angry Birds' wouldn't need, I'm sure some people are in a rush to get to their game and might just agree to anything.Sure, most of the Tom's readers are less likely to be affected by such a thing, but more and more Smart Phone users are just those people who click on every link in their email and every pop-up on their PC.[/citation]
Rule of thumb: never use a device that's smarter than you. Like an old say goes, "can't fix stupid". Some people out there could knot up a flag pole.
 

rosen380

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Well, a calculator is smarter than most people, and you'd use it *for* that reason. I don't know what the square root of 1158763 is... but I can use a 'smart' device to figure it out for me.

By your rule-of-thumb, I suppose the market for smart phones should be *maybe* a couple hundred thousand... but a billion or so people have one.
 

dalethepcman

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"Google is Malware lol"
and
"Two things Android needs to improve upon"
obvious troll's are obvious....

What Google needs to improve with Android, is forcing manufacturers to either use Vanilla Android, or actually update the OS of their phones.

The whole "we know how to make it better than Google" crap from all the different vendors is the biggest thing that upsets me about any Android phone.

 

sam_p_lay

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[citation][nom]house70[/nom]Optimization: improved long time ago since 4.0. Now on JB even better. You need to use them.[/citation]

Yeah, if you can. You do realise how few devices are supporting them? If you buy a new high-end handset now you should be OK, otherwise, odds are you're still on Gingerbread. You can root the phone and install Cyanogen Mod 9 (I think 9 is the Android 4-based version) but not everyone will want to root their phone. So a huge number of Android users have to continue to put up with 2.3 for the time being.
 

ojas

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Funny. Unix/Linux/Mac OS is supposed to be super safe, but Android, with a linux kernel, isn't (supposed to be).

Trust the media and anything is possible.
 

rosen380

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I think most of the issues aren't about the security holes of the OS, but the security holes of the users. There isn't much Google can do about that :)
 
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