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Adrian Kingsley-Hughes
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Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'

By | November 11, 2011, 2:11pm PST

Summary: Most products achieved 0% detection rate.

Free anti-malware apps for the Android operating system are ‘near to useless’ according to anti-malware testing specialists AV-Test.org.

The results of the testing [PDF download] were quite shocking, with most products achieving 0% detection rate. The best product, Zoner Antivirus Free, scored a miserable 32% in a manual scan and a more respectable 80% when it came to a real-time scan. And remember, this is the best of the free apps!

Data: AV-Test.org

The most popular free anti-malware app for Android (based on marketplace data) is Antivirus Free by Creative Apps with between 1,000,000 and 5,000,000 installations. This application scored an utterly miserable 0% on both the manual and real-time scan.

According to AV-Test, ‘the circulation of obviously near to useless security apps endangers those, who trust them and install apps from 3rd party app markets without further suspiciousness.’

If you’re relying on any of these apps, take note.

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Topics

Scanner, Anti-malware, Security, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

Disclosure

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

All opinions expressed on Hardware 2.0 are those of Adrian Kingsley-Hughes. Every effort is made to ensure that the information posted is accurate. If you have any comments, queries or corrections, please contact Adrian via the email link here. Any possible conflicts of interest will be posted below. [Updated: February 23, 2010] - Adrian Kingsley-Hughes has no business relationships, affiliations, investments, or other actual/potential conflicts of interest relating to the content posted so far on this blog.

Biography

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology -- whether that be by learning to program, building a PC from a pile of parts, or helping them get the most from their new MP3 player or digital camera.

Adrian has authored/co-authored technical books on a variety of topics, ranging from programming to building and maintaining PCs. His most recent books include "Build the Ultimate Custom PC", "Beginning Programming" and "The PC Doctor's Fix It Yourself Guide". He has also written training manuals that have been used by a number of Fortune 500 companies.

Adrian also runs a popular blog under the name The PC Doctor, where he covers a range of computer-related topics -- from security to repairing and upgrading.

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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
cvachon 4th Jan
@John L. Ries Apparently Lookout doesn???t scan in real time??? it doesn???t scan even during the download??? so the only way is "on-demand" scanning - less than perfect IMHO
View in thread
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
Cylon Centurion Updated - 11th Nov
LOL! None of those apps are even from a security vendor! What are these doing on the market? Where is Google's Q&A? Hell, "AntiVirus Free" sounds exactly like tose damn Windows popups people used to get.

It's things like this that make me feel bad for Android. It's such a mess and things like this don't help. Neither does Google's lack of caring. Truth is, Google needs to step up to the plate and remove this junk from the market. People shouldn't need AVs on their phones.
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
jgm@... 12th Nov
@Cylon Centurion It doesn't end on ZDNet, does it, the WWE of tech blogs? This post has nothing to do with Android per se, and nothing to do with Google. Please don't use it as yet another jumping-off point for an hyperbole-laced rant. If Windows anti-virus program X gets a low rating, it has nothing to do with Microsoft, let alone should it be used a knee-jerk excuse to rehash MS criticisms.

*I* don't need anti-virus on my phone... that's because it's an el-cheapo Nokia that really doesn't do much other than make phone calls, and literally has 10MB of storage space! If someone's phone is a general-purpose device (read: smartphone) capable of running arbitrary code and applications, then yes, they do need security/protection/anti-virus-malware-rootkit on their device. You're smart enough to know that, so please don't insult the rest of us by making a silly, unfounded claim like that.
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
Cylon Centurion 12th Nov
@jgm@...

Then why doesn't iPhone or WP7 need AV? In fact the one and only AV for WP7, was removed after it too was found to do nothing. And this one came from AVG!
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NC
Uralbas Updated - 13th Nov
...
  • Flagged
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
sagarshirish 14th Nov
@jgm@...
Well said...but u do know windows has Microsoft security essentials....which is free security solution...
and it works wonders...
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People shouldn't need AVs on their phones
guzz46 13th Nov
@Cylon Centurion

People shouldn't need AVs on their computers either.
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I don't see Lookout on that list
John L. Ries 11th Nov
Any word on how effective it is?
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
Linux Guru Advocate 11th Nov
@John L. Ries
Android like Linux is rock solid and does not need antivirus. that's only for windoze!
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
vivianvein 11th Nov
@Linux Guru Advocate
Hi SJVN grin
  • Flagged
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
AsifHussain1 12th Nov
@Linux Guru Advocate

Not sure if trolling or plain stupid.
  • Flagged
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
rrogacki@... 12th Nov
@Linux Guru Advocate

What a stupid statement !!
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
Pete "athynz" Athens 12th Nov
@Linux Guru Advocate You must have no real experience with Android - or Linux - for that matter. Android - and Linux - are prone to malware... case in point was the takedown of The Linux Foundation servers and kernel.org as well as the 25+ cases of malware-laden apps in Google's app market. And BTW calling the software "antivirus" is a poor attempt as misdirection.
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
guzz46 13th Nov
@Pete "athynz" Athens

Yet another person who doesn't know what they are talking about, The Linux Foundation servers and kernel.org was hacked by a hacker... not by malware, and Linux isn't prone to malware... windows is.

Unless of course by being prone to malware you mean the user having the ability to install software, then yes every OS is prone to malware.
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
spacespeed 14th Nov
@guzz46

Another anti-MS troll? Windows isn't any more prone to malware than Linux is. Due to its market share, it's just targeted more. Yes, every OS is prone to malware, because one can install applications.
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
Pete "athynz" Athens 14th Nov
@guzz46 Yet another person who doesn't know what they are talking about, The Linux Foundation servers and kernel.org was hacked by a hacker... not by malware, and Linux isn't prone to malware... windows is.

Oh let me guess - you are one of those who is going with the SJVN theory that it was a "malware laden PC" that brought down The Linux Foundation... please, spare me. As for me not knowing what I'm talking about, allow me to direct you to this link:

http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/attacks/231601225

and this quote from that article:

"Given the password warning, did the Linux Foundation fail to secure the passwords, for example by storing them as plain text, rather than salting and hashing them? Not necessarily, said Paul Ducklin, head of technology for Sophos in the Asia Pacific region, in a blog post "This breach appears to involve a malware compromise, not merely the unauthorized retrieval of data from the servers. If a server is 'owned' by malware, even the login process should be considered untrustworthy. Passwords could therefore have been stolen directly from memory during login, even though they were never written to disk."

What else ya got?

Unless of course by being prone to malware you mean the user having the ability to install software, then yes every OS is prone to malware.

No, I mean that EVERY OS including Linux is prone to malware... get your head of of the sand dude.
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Windows isn't any more prone to malware than Linux is
guzz46 14th Nov
@spacespeed

Is that some kind of joke?
Of course windows is more prone, and its because of its design.
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
guzz46 14th Nov
@Pete "athynz" Athens

"Oh let me guess - you are one of those who is going with the SJVN theory that it was a "malware laden PC" that brought down The Linux Foundation"

No I said a hacker brought it down... as opposed to you who implied that malware brought it down... remember what you said "Linux - are prone to malware... case in point was the takedown of The Linux Foundation servers and kernel.org"

What else have I got?
Do want an example http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Linux-Foundation-Linuxcom-Hacked-in-Kernelcom-Breach-504793/
And here is a quote from the article "Linux Organization officials discovered on Aug. 28 that attackers had installed a Trojan and opened a backdoor into kernel.org servers on Aug. 12"
Do you see now? attackers installed malware.

"No, I mean that EVERY OS including Linux is prone to malware... get your head of of the sand dude"

Oh please be more specific, how exactly is Linux prone? where can I find some of this Linux malware and how can it install on my PC? or are you just spreading FUD?
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
Jimster480 17th Nov
@Linux Guru Advocate nice troll, but linux can be infected just like any other antivirus
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
cvachon 4th Jan
@John L. Ries Apparently Lookout doesn???t scan in real time??? it doesn???t scan even during the download??? so the only way is "on-demand" scanning - less than perfect IMHO
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
dwb124 Updated - 11th Nov
If Google doesn't want Windows Phone/Windows 8 to walk all over them in the next few years (Hardware vendors switching away) they have to take control of Android, clean up the fragmentation and app store, address patent issues and create more prescriptive relationships with hardware vendors. I hope they succeed, but a hands-off approach will do no good.
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
bean520 11th Nov
@dwb124
"If Google doesn't want Windows Phone/Windows 8 to walk all over them in the next few years (Hardware vendors switching away) they have to take control of Android, clean up the fragmentation and app store, address patent issues and create more prescriptive relationships with hardware vendors. I hope they succeed, but a hands-off approach will do no good. "

Patents, or at least the lawsuit side of things - a valid issue, and one Google is trying to clean up.

Fragmentation issues -What fragmentation issues? The only 'real' fragmentation is between normal android and Amazon's remix.

Relationships with hardware vendors - actually pretty good.

App store - This I agree with; for those who want the 'hands-off' approach here, there is a reason why Android phones CAN install apps from other places. There is no excuse for at least not keeping security in check with the Marketplace, although Apple's recent slip-through-the-net shows this is not a silver bullet.

I cannot see WP7 overtaking Android anytime soon, not without Microsoft pulling some illegal stunt at least
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Like the illegal things Google has done
Mister Spock 11th Nov
@bean520
as in using other's intellectual propertywithout the owner's permission to place into Android?

Illegal" stunts" like that?
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Why limit the response to just Android ....
wackoae 12th Nov
@Mister Spock What about Google illegally scanning books without the permission of the authors (copyright holders).

Or what about the current announcement about the plans to unveil a music store that does not have the legal right to sell 80+% of the music?
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
Natanael_L 14th Nov
@Mister Spock: Like how both Apple and MS has been sued over the very same things many times? Also, have Google been *proven* in court (final judgement, not preliminary) to violate any MS, Oracle or Apple patents yet?

@wackoae: "What about Google illegally scanning books without the permission of the authors"
I can't see why that should be illegal. Sure, distributing without permission is one thing - but just scanning books should be perfectly legal. Now Google might have published some books without permission, but I don't know of any such cases. Can you link to any?

"Or what about the current announcement about the plans to unveil a music store that does not have the legal right to sell 80+% of the music?"
Have they sold any musikc without permission yet?
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
Rama.NET 12th Nov
@dwb124

>>Relationships with hardware vendors - actually pretty good.
Well, in business no relationship is considered pretty good like a personal relationship. Things can change overnight. Having said that, if the relationship between Google and OEM/ODM are pretty good why would they build phones with alternate systems like Samsung, HTC, Acer, Dell, Lenovo etc. building WP7 phones and in the case of Samsung still releasing Bada phones. Most of them defected Microsoft camp and ran towards Google's OHA mantra. They realized they cant just go with Google any further, so they are building WP7 phones too. lesson that one should learn, in business there is no relationship that is good. All of them revolve around $. Google needs OEMs/ODMs and Carriers to get search revenue and they need some platform to build the phones and push them so they could make quick $.
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
Natanael_L 14th Nov
@Rama.NET: "Having said that, if the relationship between Google and OEM/ODM are pretty good why would they build phones with alternate systems like Samsung, HTC, Acer, Dell, Lenovo etc. building WP7 phones and in the case of Samsung still releasing Bada phones."

Not putting all eggs in one basket?
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
aggiejon04 11th Nov
Interesting they didn't include Lookout, perhaps one of the more popular choices for Android. You can tell who the trolls are. Fragmentation? The only people I hear complain about fragmentation are tech pundits and fanbois for the other side. In my immediate family there are two iPhone, 1 blackberry, and 6 android users. Each one on a second or third device of that type. They like the respective platforms because it fits a need. Never have the android users complained about fragmentation, of them 2 of us root/rom, the others don't know or care what version of android they have. The apps they use work, they love it. Fragmentation is just something that is only important as a counter to a good platform, like flash on an iPhone, or well nobody buying win phone 7....
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Here here
daboochmeister 14th Nov
@aggiejon04 - as a good rule of thumb, every statement made on these forums about how products are perceived should be filtered through a "are blogs and pundits the ONLY place I ever hear that statement made?", and if the answer is "yes", then just move on. It happens an amazing amount of the time.
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
bradavon 11th Nov
Can a list of the best paid for AV solutions also be included please?
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
Alan Smithie 12th Nov
All anti-malware is useless and anyone who thinks differently is equally useless.
No substitute for good current best security practice irrespective of what OS you are using.
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
jgm@... 12th Nov
@Alan Smithie "All anti-malware is useless and anyone who thinks differently is equally useless." You do realize how that reads, don't you? What would your employer think of your intelligence if he/she read that sentence from you?

How would a program employing heuristics to detect zero-day exploits be "useless"? Who's claiming that they are a "substitute for", rather than a useful addition to, good security practices? Where did this strawman come from?
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
Alan Smithie 13th Nov
@jgm@...

Anti malware will not stop all viruses EVEN WITH HEURISTICS !

It reduces your chances but it is no magic stop all shield
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You forgot .... Android users are mostly uneducated high school dropouts
wackoae Updated - 12th Nov
@Alan Smithie Or at least that is what some BS study claimed.

But even as a BS claim .... the sheer stupidity of some very vocal Fandroids makes you think the study may not be than wrong.

Computer Security 101 .... NEVER install crap downloaded from questionable sites. What is the 1st thing many fandroid users do and advice to do? Download a ROM created by some "anonymous" hackers and posted on questionable forums.
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
Natanael_L 14th Nov
@wackoae: Cyanogenmod ain't that shady. But sure, there's plenty of shady ROMs. But there's a reason for why none of them have any substantial user base.
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
Nate_K 12th Nov
Lookout is not listed...
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
OhTheHumanity 12th Nov
Where is Lookout, most people I know use that?
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So where's the list of the AV apps that work the best?
Hallowed are the Ori 12th Nov
Inquiring minds, and all that, you know.
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Thanks
MichaelWells 12th Nov
Thank you Adrian.
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What are the best paid?
MichaelWells 12th Nov
Adrian, what are the best paid programs? I am waiting so I can purchase.
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
tillman19 13th Nov
my co-worker's step-mother makes $78 hourly on the internet. She has been out of a job for 8 months but last month her pay was $9020 just working on the internet for a few hours. Go to this site http://ddp.net/vv3
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this is looking almost as bad as Windows ecosystem
theo_durcan 13th Nov
next, we will start to see Android devices becoming slower and slower, same as Windows 7
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clothing,shoes,jeans,t-shrits,********,sunglasses
zhangoooo 13th Nov
http://www.proxy4biz???com
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
friedsonjm@... 14th Nov
Funny that Lookout is not listed... maybe because it works?
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
datadorklv 14th Nov
I wonder how Lookout missed that list of candidates with 251,139 installs from the Market. And I wonder how it would have tested....
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
hungryjoe Updated - 14th Nov
@datadorklv

251,139 isn't the number of installs, it's the number of people who rated the app. Lookout's install number is "10,000,000 - 50,000,000" according to the android market web site. between 2 and 10 times more than installations than the most popular app in this study.
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
msimmer 14th Nov
What about F-Secure. They were the first to protect phones?
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
VRSpock 14th Nov
I used lookout and heard that it was the best one out there when I first got an android device. It's not even on this list.
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
NTrain 14th Nov
@VRSpock

Uh...prolly means that it works.
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RE: Most free Android anti-malware scanners 'near to useless'
mlev 14th Nov
@NTrain

I'm with you on that one.

Let me see...

If I do stats, and want to make a program look bad, let's only talk about the bad accessories. Why on earth would I talk about these goodies, it would go against the BS I want to push!

It wouldn't not be good for the other phone manufacturer (not saying which) if phones with Android were good.
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No Lookout? Might be a reason
macmcf 14th Nov
When the list omits Lookout, with 10,000,000+ downloads, I am tempted to suspect that the opportunity to create a catchy headline caused the authors to omit anything likely to produce good results, including software that did more than the minimum job of anti-malware scanning.

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