There is a lot of Android malware out there. It’s possible that a potentially harmful variant has made its way into your smartphone and is now wreaking havoc. It can steal your personal information, annoy you with ads, and drain your smartphone’s battery.
An antivirus app is the most common method of preventing Android malware. However, is the use of antivirus software actually necessary? Malware protection is a question that you may want to ask. Or do they exacerbate the issue and perhaps even create a new one?
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How Antivirus Apps Typically Function
As part of your decision-making process, it’s important to know how most antivirus programmes operate. It’s not as complicated as you might expect.
The security research firm AV comparatives conducted a comprehensive investigation into some of the most popular Android antivirus apps in a report released in 2019. Many security experts had suspected all along that many popular Android antivirus apps do not scan apps for malicious behaviour. While some antivirus apps do use a blacklist to check against, most simply use a whitelist. Apps from non-whitelisted vendors are simply flagged as potentially harmful.
Other people also use a blacklist. If you have any of the apps on their blacklist installed, they scan your phone. It is flagged with a recommendation to remove any that are discovered.
From a practical point of view, this offers very little to no protection, regardless of how useful it may sound. When it comes to scanning your smartphone, most so-called antivirus apps rely on inadequate lists. Since there are always new malicious apps, a pre-compiled list is not a viable solution.
Even when antivirus software vendors update their list, it’s still not complete. It’s possible that thousands of malicious apps have yet to be discovered, based on the stats. It’s possible that these apps could be wreaking havoc on your phone, and your antivirus app would not be able to detect them. As a result, you develop a false sense of security and begin to relax your security measures.
Why Android antivirus software are bad
A false sense of security may be the least of your worries if you have an antivirus app installed on your Android smartphone. It’s not uncommon for antivirus apps to do nothing but eat up your phone’s resources and have a negative impact on its performance in numerous ways.
Running in the background, using animations, and deploying real-time components can cause battery drain in antivirus apps. Even though they’re always active, other running apps are going to have to compete with them for RAM. When using an antivirus app, the amount of resources being hoarded can grow exponentially, even causing your phone to slow down.
False positives are another issue to be aware of as well. In some cases, anti-malware programmes misidentify and label legitimate applications as malware. Some go so far as to “protect the user” by taking action against these supposedly malicious apps.
Most antivirus programmes that actually try to do their job fall into this category. Those who don’t care about others’ well-being go straight to causing havoc of their own. You could be handing malware the keys to the kingdom if you’ve installed most of the popular antivirus apps from less reputable vendors. Because of all the permissions and administrator privileges you’ve likely granted it, malware disguised as antivirus is one of the most dangerous types of malware you could encounter.
A user’s permission isn’t required in this case, so they don’t have to ask for it. As a result, the malicious antivirus app can run continuously in the background, perform rogue actions, and even serve advertisements. Some antivirus apps on the market aren’t doing their jobs at all; they’re actually doing more harm than good.
Scaremongering by Antivirus Vendors
Statistically, Android is the most popular mobile operating system in the world. With a 73 percent market share, even Apple’s iOS pales in comparison. Being the most widely used mobile computing platform has its price. Not a month passes by without some news of Android malware that’s definitely going to wreck your smartphone.
Despite the fact that most of these reports are based on solid facts, they exaggerate the dangers of this malware. In order to amplify this news, anti-malware app vendors typically portray it as a global pandemic.
Despite the fact that Android malware is still a serious threat, the likelihood of picking up malware is much lower than you might think. Android’s built-in security measures eliminate the need for a third-party anti-malware app if you follow the instructions exactly.
A lot has changed in the Android operating system since its vulnerable beginnings. Android, despite being a popular target for malicious apps, is naturally secure enough to protect you from the vast majority of malicious apps if you follow the rules carefully.
Anti-Malware Tools Included in Android
Fiddling with Android’s default security rules is a major malware risk for your smartphone. Many Android users mistakenly alter their security settings, allowing malicious apps to slip through the cracks.
Smartphones are frequently infected with Android malware after downloading questionable applications from third-party sources. These apps may sneak into the Play Store undetected, but Google has a sophisticated system in place to detect and remove them.
Apps from other sources cannot be installed by default on Android. You’re already protected against malware if you only use apps from the Google Play Store. Unfortunately, there are a large number of people who prefer to use third-party app stores. If you’re being honest, there are plenty of good reasons to install apps from outside the App Store. However, if you only use apps from the Play Store, you can take advantage of Google’s extensive security checks.
If malware manages to get into Google’s Play Store, it won’t be around for long, even if it somehow manages to get through. When an app is uploaded to Google Play, it is automatically scanned for malware. A human review process is also in place to examine any app that appears suspect.
Occasionally, you may hear about malware in the Play Store that spams users with ads or collects personal data. Because of Google’s advanced technology, these threats can be spotted and eliminated quickly.
Apps that are capable of scanning your phone for malicious behaviour, boosting its speed and improving privacy and security measures should be considered effective anti-malware. Many of the anti-malware apps that are being sold do not actually do this. The Android OS, on the other hand, excels in this area thanks to security tools like Play Protect.
Make Sure You’re Safe With Play Protect!
Smart algorithms that can learn and adapt to new threats are used in Play Protect’s anti-malware programme. In order to find out what’s going on in your phone and take action, it has access to the deepest reaches of your device.
Without your explicit consent, malicious apps can even be removed from your device. There’s more to it than that. For additional peace of mind, Google Play Protect keeps an eye on your network connections, as well as the URLs you visit, to send you notifications when something isn’t quite right on the network you’re using.
Play Protect is the only third-party Android anti-malware app that has as much access and resources as possible. Google Play Protect is the most effective “malicious behaviour scanning” app on Android.
Is Antivirus Software Necessary?
Is it worth risking your Android smartphone’s security on the promises of third-party anti-malware vendors if the Android OS has most of what it takes to protect it?
A few good anti-malware apps from reputable companies are out there, but Android already has most of what you need to stay safe. If you have any doubts about the authenticity of any antivirus apps installed on your Android device, remove them immediately.