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Securing my phone, so many choices

I recently bought Android phone HTC ONE V and i am suprised how business work around Anroid OS + apps. I see some major problems :
1) Is there any trusted authority which inform users that application is 'safe' ? (see article : android-malware-spreads-via-website-injection-campaigns) Malware apps are even on Google Play market. I suppose that solution for this problem is to download just from e.g. TOP 10 apps from each category and just *hope* and *believe* that there is no malware contained just because these apps are soo much popular.
2) How to control permissions/app starts/firewall is there any good app for that ? I have unrooted phone. (I cant have Cyanogenmod 7/9 installed on my HTC One V because it was not ported yet) What would you recommend to me ? I see a lot of recommendations for "LBE Privacy Guard" app but then i found thread here on xda forum that this application is maybe suspicious/dangerous etc... I just want to have full control over my phone, why is that choice so difficult ?
List of apps, often recommened by 'The Internet', are these ok or not ? :
Wifi Protector
Droidwall
WhisperCore
WhisperMonitor
SSH Tunnel
Titanium Backup
ROM Manager
Tasker
Perfect App Protector Pro
This exactly describes my situation, many choices -> i expect to get the best from the Android :
The opportunity costs associated with a decision and the time and effort that go into making it are "fixed costs" that we "pay" up front, and those costs then get "amortized" over the life of the decision. The more we invest in a decision, the more satisfaction we expect to realize from our investment. If the decision provides substantial satisfaction for a long time after it is made, the costs of making it recede into insignificance. But if the decision provides pleasure for only a short time, those costs loom large. Spending four months deciding what stereo to buy is not so bad if you really enjoy that stereo for 15 years. But if you are excited by it for six months and then adapt, you may feel like a fool for having put in all that effort.
Dont you feel the same about these Android 'choices' sometimes ?

Tell Me What Kind Of Apps You Are Looking For And I'll Give you Some Recommendations

From the list of apps you have provided I can see that all of them are trusted and reliable.. so go ahead..

1. Well google aded some security in market so before they upload app they check if it is malware-free. But for more security you can download antivirus
(I RECOMMEND AVAST!)
2. For managing apps permisions im using LBE Privacy Guard is the top app for permisions and firewall managment.
Titanium Backup, Tasker-- awesome apps 100% excelent!
Have a nice day

+1 for avast! excellent at keeping viruses out, keeping data secure, doesn't slow the phone down and has an awesome anti-theft feature which if you're rooted is even better!

Did anyones avast actually find anything that is not a false positive?
Just wondering if this is really necessary...

My avast detected the one click root and androot files on my sd card as malware, which I mean they could be lol but the process of identifying them as false positives was a pain. Other than that... Avast is amazing.
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using XDA

onebornoflight said:
My avast detected the one click root and androot files on my sd card as malware, which I mean they could be lol but the process of identifying them as false positives was a pain. Other than that... Avast is amazing.
Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using XDA
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Yes, sometimes it does its an antivirus so... he thinks that third-party apps are suspicious, but there is nothing to worry about when it comes to root.

antivirus is no good for performance

Antivirus overrated
Antivirus is and will never be any good for performance. You have to decide what risk you are willing to take. With good common sense, you can filter out the obvious threats. Review apps permissions and (try to) install only apps you and the community trust. If you don't trust it, ask around in this forum
Also - obviously - don't visit suspicious sites, click on links in emails and never download programs you don't know.
Personally, i do not use virus protection. I do use DroidWall and LBE Privacy guard for a few apps, but more for data and performance issues.
But i also regularly whipe my phone to install new ROM's and let my (trusted) apps freshly reinstall and restore only game user data.

rilorolo said:
Antivirus is and will never be any good for performance. You have to decide what risk you are willing to take. With good common sense, you can filter out the obvious threats. Review apps permissions and (try to) install only apps you and the community trust. If you don't trust it, ask around in this forum
Also - obviously - don't visit suspicious sites, click on links in emails and never download programs you don't know.
Personally, i do not use virus protection. I do use DroidWall and LBE Privacy guard for a few apps, but more for data and performance issues.
But i also regularly whipe my phone to install new ROM's and let my (trusted) apps freshly reinstall and restore only game user data.
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+1 here. I think that there is no need to use an Antivirus. Just have a look on the permissions when installing an app and you will be OK.

security concerns migrating from iOs to Android

As title suggests, coming from a so called "clean" iOS environment to Android, my main concern how susceptible is my data to being stolen. I have no (current) plans to root my next phone and will be used mainly from business, but from what I have read in the past even google play store apps have been to known to have malicious content. Am I worrying too much ? I do carry sensitive work data on my iPhone.

applefag said:
As title suggests, coming from a so called "clean" iOS environment to Android, my main concern how susceptible is my data to being stolen. I have no (current) plans to root my next phone and will be used mainly from business, but from what I have read in the past even google play store apps have been to known to have malicious content. Am I worrying too much ? I do carry sensitive work data on my iPhone.
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As long as the apps you install are from known sources (i.e. Play Store) you don't need to worry. Also every time you download an app check the permissions. If you think that the app shouldn't have those permissions then don't download it. Finally for safety reasons never install any apps from unknown sources (i.e. outside of Play Store) unless you trust the developer.
If you still find yourself worrying read this.

applefag said:
Am I worrying too much ?
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Yep
I think you won't install any app outside Google Play so install apps that you know and you won't need to worry. FYI http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security-Enhanced_Linux
kalpetros said:
Also every time you download an app check the permissions. If you think that the app shouldn't have those permissions then don't download it.
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Well only if you are sure. Sometimes apps need permissions that aren't justified for some people.

for the open nature of the android ecosystem, it is somewhat normal that you will have to be careful though there are several different techniques, i use this the most.
Root your phone, install xposed framework and install xprivacy. here is a review of what it does http://www.xda-developers.com/android/manage-individual-app-permissions-with-xprivacy/ . I know the installation pprocess may seem daunting, but it is easier than you think this module wil allow you to block apps of certain permission. IE. you can block location service for all the apps on your phone so that no app can get your location. There are bunch of other permissions that you can block like access to contact, gallery etc
My question to others is : Is antivirus application on android worth it? I mean can it protect me from real time attaks and malwares??

SaffatBokul said:
My question to others is : Is antivirus application on android worth it? I mean can it protect me from real time attaks and malwares??
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Not useful IMO. FYI I remember this article.

User sensibility is your best defense. Don't install apps not from the market. Only install apps with a lot of positive comments.
I would advise again rooting your phone. It's true that there are ways to block apps from accessing your private data on a rooted phone, but the additional vulnerability from unlocking your bootloader and rooting is not worth it. Just stick to apps from major developers.

snapper.fishes said:
User sensibility is your best defense. Don't install apps not from the market. Only install apps with a lot of positive comments.
I would advise again rooting your phone. It's true that there are ways to block apps from accessing your private data on a rooted phone, but the additional vulnerability from unlocking your bootloader and rooting is not worth it. Just stick to apps from major developers.
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I agree, rooting your phone comprimises your security even if you do it to install security apps.

Primokorn said:
Yep
I think you won't install any app outside Google Play so install apps that you know and you won't need to worry.
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Unfortunately, new apps in Google Play are rarely verified by Google staff, so there is still always a possibility of trojan or other malware.

Good antivirus for rooted phones?

Hey does anyone know of a good antivirus app for a rooted zenfone 2e? I want one that is free but has as many features as possible as well. Thanks.

I used to use Avast but the best anti virus is you, the user. Know your system, know the internet. If youre rooting, you will/should eventually get very familiar with android, how it behaves, the file system, permissions, built-in apps, etc. Avoid indiscriminate app downloads, especially from places other than the play store, and never follow links that youre unsure of. My opinion is that Windows is the only OS that AV is pretty much necessary.

I second avast. An interesting feature is that it will survive a factory reset if stolen.

zshep99 said:
Hey does anyone know of a good antivirus app for a rooted zenfone 2e? I want one that is free but has as many features as possible as well. Thanks.
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Unlike the PC, it is extremely unlikely you will "get" a virus on your android. It is you who has to install the malware to make it happen. And it is extremely easy to remove the malware. A factory reset would do it and as root user you could simply restore your nandroid backup.
tetakpatalked from Nexus 7 flo

Most antivirus apps come with a huge amount of crap no one needs. They often drain your battery and slow your smartphone down. I have also seen antivirus apps which behave more like spyware by replacing advertisements in other apps or direct you to untrustworthy websites when opening the webbrowser.
My opinion: You do not need an antivirus app on your smartphone. Make sure you install most apps via appstore. Take care with apps from 3rd party websites. (Especially if the website says you have an virus on your smartphone => scareware!)

I would never install Antivir-Apps, since they will drop your phone-performance. And what do you get for this? Nothing. Just be carefully of what you are downloading.

i thinks for android no needs one antivirus..

Kenfary72 said:
i thinks for android no needs one antivirus..
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+ one
Envoyé de mon E5333 en utilisant Tapatalk

Kenfary72 said:
i thinks for android no needs one antivirus..
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Click to collapse
+ two

My opinion is that android doesn't need antivirus software when the user is careful about what he downloads.

no disregard to anyone, but are you sure you are in developers forum ?!?! this is not a google store !
do you still live in Symbian world ? even the google play itself has malwares ! or you just want to ignore it ? beside those, hangroid can be easily hacked. the only system that dose not a antivirus is winphone, and it has not need it yet ! but they will come for it very soon.
personally i will never trust ios o even open my email, and in android i have an original payed antivirus that really can respond to a virus. i have original nod32 (i do NOT like it, but i didn't get a better one in hangroid.)
visited by lenovo tab2 a8.
best regards, josef.

josef2600 said:
no disregard to anyone, but are you sure you are in developers forum ?!?! this is not a google store !
do you still live in Symbian world ? even the google play itself has malwares ! or you just want to ignore it ? beside those, hangroid can be easily hacked. the only system that dose not a antivirus is winphone, and it has not need it yet ! but they will come for it very soon.
personally i will never trust ios o even open my email, and in android i have an original payed antivirus that really can respond to a virus. i have original nod32 (i do NOT like it, but i didn't get a better one in hangroid.)
visited by lenovo tab2 a8.
best regards, josef.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Best antivirus is still brain.apk
Just do not instal every bulls* and you are good to go.
Most antivirus apps are snakeoil/bloatware which will not protect you from anything!

It is good to think about an anti-virus. Android malwares exist, so everyone who's telling here that AVs for Android are a no-go are jumping the gun. However, the Android system already has some security measures into place. So is it still worth it? Yes. The Play Store can't guarantee a 100% clean virus free app collection. History has shown that. "use your brain" is also not a really constructive argument, it is easy to install a sample or virus infected application. Is it that dumb to use an AV on Android? No.
My suggestion, *buy* an AV. For example I have a yearly subscription to Freedome from F-Secure (VPN service). Primarly for my laptop but you can install it on three devices (I have it on 2 laptops and my smartphone). For the smartphone, besides a VPN the app will also scan the device for malicious apps so I got all my important security features in one app. I know that Avast has something similar. I paid 50 euros for one year, which is next to nothing considering the features and piece of mind. And for all those that go on ranting on my post here, I am a security professional in Android and see malware samples from the inside (reverse engineer) all the time
I encourage you to look in those options: VPN and App scan.

tetakpatak said:
Unlike the PC, it is extremely unlikely you will "get" a virus on your android. It is you who has to install the malware to make it happen. And it is extremely easy to remove the malware. A factory reset would do it and as root user you could simply restore your nandroid backup.
tetakpatalked from Nexus 7 flo
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Remember stagefight thingy ? One could have abused it to gain root privileges and install a binary that run at start, a raw binary, not a package.
Tell me how it is easy to uninstall it, you would first have to track it, if it's purpose wasn't to patch other binaries, and then, you're good to reflash system partition.
No system is invulnerable
Of course, it's tough to get a virus on android, but there's still common malware, adware, scareware, and raw security flaws. There is still need for security solutions, mostly for the raw flaws.

Best choice for you from my point of view
CM Security & Malwarebytes Anti-Malware

I agree with Magissia if you think over that what you are going to do.

Virustotal AND vulnerability patches

Internet Security apps

Hey !!
Do Andriod phones need antivirus or internet security as a must? If so provide me some links..
Thankxxxx in advance

The Answer Has been moved to a thread dedicated to security question and other advices to modify safely our Android Devices
Here is the post

Raiz said:
It absolutely doesn't, please don't download them, those are mostly commercial sh*t apps full of ads that plays with the fears of users.
Android Security advice :
• Just don't install apps that you don't trust (apk files and weird looking Google play apps)
• Never share your passwords with somebody not trusted, use a different one for each of you accounts.
Find more here :
https://forum.xda-developers.com/general/security
General security and privacy:
• a VPN isn't a magic app that allows you to go completely invisible, even I can find who you are simply by using your latest Instagram post, the government doesn't have money to spend spying on you anyway
• Public WiFi internet browsing is like taking a bath naked around other people, everybody can see what you're doing and can interact with your browsing by sending you pop up messages on your browser. In that case the VPN is useful. But please don't use anything other than your WiFi network to pay online.
• Change password at least once a year
• For God sake be careful on what you share on social medias !
• If someone blackmails you, just ignore him even if he show you he has your real password/footage of you doing nasty things, most of the time they haven't and tries to scare you. But take action on your account, just don't answer them.
• Not having any of your IRL infos online is a good idea, but it tends to be more and more difficult because of Google assistant, and other Google services that are super intrusive (I mean even with your YouTube Google know your tastes better than your buds). But don't panic, if you're not a terrorist or a criminal you're not risking your life.
Keep in mind that your security is fine most of the time if you have solid password, and you don't give them away, but your privacy is not if you have a social media account of any type. If you post something on the internet, remember it'll stay forever out there, whatever you do !
App that I use to keep my Android phone in good health (install them sometimes to clean up/check on my phone's state then I uninstall them):
Google File Go (cleans files)
AccuBattery (check the battery health)
CPU-Z(has everything you want to know about your device)
When I need to backup an app's data or the entire app:
Titanium Backup
Here you go, I gave you very few the security advises, there are plenty more, don't hesitate to check the internet out for more !
Have a nice day
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I have 2 edits to your suggestions
1. Change your passwords monthly, preferably using a password manager that suggests really hard random passwords
2. Swift backup is much newer and more efficient than titanium backup ever was.
Sent from my OnePlus7Pro using XDA Labs

spart0n said:
I have 2 edits to your suggestions
1. Change your passwords monthly, preferably using a password manager that suggests really hard random passwords
2. Swift backup is much newer and more efficient than titanium backup ever was.
Click to expand...
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I'll update my first post continuously with every recommendation that'll follow on this thread to create the sort of "Index of Android Security". I created a new thread for security questions
Didn't knew about swift backup, what a great app!

patricia123 said:
Hey !!
Do Andriod phones need antivirus or internet security as a must? If so provide me some links..
Thankxxxx in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Viruses don't really exist in android. You can be targeted with malicious code but that is only if you open, tap on or accept something without knowing what it is.
For instance, someone could send you a link or a photo that has malicious code embedded in it, when you open it or accept it, then the malicious code has access to your device and your data.
As long as you know that you are dealing with a trusted source, you should be fine. But, if you are the kind of user that goes all over the internet opening things without knowing what it is, you will quickly find yourself targeted by malicious code.
Become a responsible, informed user that is aware of the dangers and what kinds of things can be a problem and you should be fine.
Sent from my SM-S767VL using Tapatalk

Apps for finding spyware someone installed on my phone?

I've looked at a lot of anti-spyware apps, but I can't find one that specifically says it can find stealth apps that someone installed when they got ahold of your phone. So it would look like an app that I personally wanted to have. They mostly talk about apps that were installed by a virus or link, etc.
It would be nice to be able to disable camera/mic functions too, or at least be notified when they are being accessed.
I don't mind paying to purchase the app, but most require a double digit monthly subscription, and I make next to nothing because I'm disabled so chances are even if I subscribed the money wouldn't be there to continue the subscription.
I've lurked here for many years without signing up, I love you guys! There are so many tutorials and apps that would never have known about if not for you guys. The developers here are geniuses. So thank you immensely in advance for your help!

Maybe try play store free app Bitdefender which has 5 million dl's & 4.7 rating. I have not tried it....
"Bitdefender Antivirus is one of the few actually free antivirus apps. It hasn’t changed much over the years. It offers a basic scanning feature, a simple interface, quick performance, and no configuration. This is a great one for super basic needs. All it really does is scan stuff ..." androidauthority

galaxys said:
Maybe try play store free app Bitdefender which has 5 million dl's & 4.7 rating. I have not tried it....
"Bitdefender Antivirus is one of the few actually free antivirus apps. It hasn’t changed much over the years. It offers a basic scanning feature, a simple interface, quick performance, and no configuration. This is a great one for super basic needs. All it really does is scan stuff ..." androidauthority
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Thanks for the reply. Do anti-virus apps detect spyware though?

They can, just read some of the app playstore reviews and it's Developer app description for details....

Try ‘Malwarebytes for Android’.

If you really think there's spyware do a hard reset.
If you still aren't satisfied go full nuke and have the firmware reflashed.
No virus detection has a 100% detection rate and the worst trojans only a reflash can eradicate them.
A better question is why do you think there's spyware on the phone?
In over 6 years of using outdated OS's I've never had to do a reload because of malware.
Once found a nasty trojan preloader before it could be triggered with Malwarebytes.
I had a infected jpeg that damaged files in the download folder. Deleting the jpeg and some of the files ended it's brief rain of terror.
Be careful what apps you load, what you download*, what you click and never let others have unsupervised access to your device. React quickly to abnormal behavior to find it's cause.
Delete any file you suspect of being malware including jpegs and pngs.
Be prepare to do a hard reset at any time if you believe the device has been infected.
Always keep at least 2 complete isolated data backups for the device. Stagger syncs to them so a virus can't get embedded on both of them... hopefully.
Lol, paranoid yet?
*use only cloud based email apps like gmail

Google apps are spyware, Facebook is spyware, Whatsapp is spyware, Instagram is spyware. In principle all Social Media apps are spyware.
All apps what are designed to track your Internet browsing habits, such as frequented sites and favorite downloads, and then provide advertising companies with marketing data are spyware. All apps what can access your contacts data are spyware ...

Android, the spyware party mix...

You can try Bitdefender Free or Malwarebytes Premium. I have not used the second one before but have read a review at https://antivirusdoctor.net/ and think about using it on my smartphone.