Android phones have taken over the world economy. What was once an unsure newbie in the playground for the Nokia Symbian operating software has now become the byword of mobile operating systems. Android holds 87% of the market share in the mobile phone market followed by Apple at 14%. The flip-side to this is that it becomes more prone to hackers and malware. As the more popular and accessible it becomes with users the more hackers are going to try and find loopholes in the operating software framework.
Most Android viruses piggyback on dubious apps. Google Play is the norm for the installation of applications on Android phones, however, sometimes users go forego the use of Google Play and install applications and games from the internet. Once the user installs the application it may use heavy pop-ups or even clickbait which would redirect the user into sites meant for advertising or just risky sites which would introduce further malware codes into the system. Even apps offered by Google Play are sometimes not authentic. Google Play uses Bouncer Technology to identify the whether an app is authentic however, application certificates can be purchased. This is often used to pass through Google’s early detection and thus a phony application is downloaded into the user’s system. Until and unless any user posts a review of the product for all intents and purposes Google would trust its certification. The form of malware could be anything ranging from Spyware to Phishing. The application could be used to study the keystrokes used by the device or just allow a hacker access to the data of the application users.
In order to prevent such an eventuality, it is best advised to install an antivirus program. Android as a platform has almost all the major security players available to its users. It offers both paid subscriptions and free software. Another reason why an antivirus software installation is important in Android phones is because many phone makers stop providing security updates after a certain period of time. Kind of like the upgrade to the OS which would work on the latest gadgets and not in the older gadgets released five years back say. In the absence of security updates for the OS the software would have an outdated database of security threats, thus would be incompetent to detect the virus and stop it from disrupting its function.
Whatsapp, Facebook and other social media apps which thrive on the features of liking and sharing of data are very commonly used as platforms for viruses and malware to enter the device. In group conversations and direct messaging an suspicious looking link maybe forwarded to the user or a pop-up may present itself, so user ends up clicking on the link and thus introduce a virus to the system unbeknownst to themselves. Even though Facebook does have filters for certain content. It is not a fool proof strategy to keep viruses out and protect your data from malware.
Security apps also scan an applications certification and all known sources. Plus, they often probe a user with the permission request. As added bonus most antivirus software even provide other benefits such as remote locking or wiping the data from a lost or stolen device, most provide cloud data backup and also a total system clean-up. So, to sum up it is always better for the health and safety of a user to install an best antivirus program.
