Should I Use Antivirus on Android?

Our smartphones and computers are regularly exposed to constant threats and malicious attempts. Many of these are cleverly designed to steal our personal information and data if we are not careful. And yes, it can be an alarming scenario. So this brings us to an important question. Should you install an antivirus app on your smartphone to protect it from malicious intent?

And even if you need to get an antivirus, do they work as advertised? But before we get to the point, we need to fully understand how a virus behaves on your Android phone and how they differ from malware.

What Is a Virus and How Does It Differ From Malware?

Computer viruses have been in the news for the past few decades. As you know, they work by copying themselves and adding them to a specific program. They get in by running “cracks” for compromised software, a harmless email, or illegal apps.

In the case of Android phones, viruses do not multiply as they do on a PC. But that’s where the good news ends. Malicious activities on Android phones and tablets are not limited to just copying programs. Instead, malware exists in many forms and is designed to monitor your activities and steal your information and ultimately your money.

In layman’s language, malware is malicious code and exists in many different forms. Often the terms Malware and Virus are used interchangeably, in fact, a virus is just one type of malware. For example, if you are not very careful with the applications you install or the attachments you download, your mobile phone may be locked.

For example, as recently as 2020, there were reports that a certain Covid 19 tracking app was scamming. It locked users out of their phones by forcing a password change and forcing the user to pay around 100 Bitcoins to get access back.

Another classic malware attack was HummingBad, which infected nearly 10 million Android handsets in 2016.

Then there are the malicious apps that siphon your information after installing themselves on your phone.

Therefore, malware attacks are very real. But can antivirus apps help you with this? Well, let’s find out.

Should You Use Antivirus On Your Android Phone?

There are two ways for this. If you are not sure about the apps you download or the links you click, you can get an antivirus app to prevent such suspicious activity to some extent.

However, keep in mind that these anti-virus apps, like any other app, will consume your phone’s resource and battery. Looking back, we can say that it was a better compromise.

However, not every anti-virus app out there does the job as advertised. A survey by AV-Comparatives in 2019 found that some antivirus apps don’t even scan the phone for malware.

These apps displayed a progress bar to duplicate the scan and that was it. At the same time, most of the antivirus was ineffective against malware on Android phones.

So, when you go for anti-virus, the wise thing to do would be to go with the already popular ones. One such example is Bitdefender Mobile Security.

Get Bitdefender Mobile Security

It costs around $15 a year and brings a wide variety of features to the home. At the same time, the app should cover your other devices.

Steps to Keep Your Phone and Data Safe

Having an effective antivirus application is not the end of the road. Be equally careful when downloading apps on your phone or visiting certain sites.

The first step is to download apps only from Google Play Store and avoid installing third-party stores or dangerous APK sites. Play Store regularly scans its apps for harmful apps and removes any suspicious ones. If you follow tech news, you must have seen the news about removing apps from Play Store to steal user information and in some cases money.

However, it is not 100% perfect, and sometimes some of these apps may remain in the store to be found later. One such example is InstaAgent, which managed to steal Instagram usernames and passwords. Another example is the Joker malware, which is available in over 20 apps on the Google Play Store.

One way to stay a little more secure is to regularly update your Android phone to the latest security patch. These security patches address potential security vulnerabilities and provide a patch or fix.

But at the end of the day, it’s up to you to be proactive to keep your data and information safe and not lose money in the long run. Here are a few ways to stay safe

• Avoid downloading apps from third-party app stores or installing “cracks” from unknown sites.
• Review Android app permissions over time. Most of the time we give permissions without blinking, and this can be detrimental in the long run.
• Avoid clicking links in emails and messages. Yes, both phishing and smishing are real.
• Watch out for security patches. If anyone has been waiting for a long time, feel free to click the Update button.

Stay safe

In conclusion, yes, you can get an antivirus for your Android smartphone. Not only do they protect you from viruses, they also protect you from common malware attacks to some extent.

Worst case, if you find your phone behaving a little weird (battery draining sooner than expected, getting hot, or opening random web pages), you should do a factory reset.