Do you need to download an anti-virus for Android?

Yamainwitch@lemmy.world to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 78 points –

So my workplace is mostly iPhone users and someone asked me what kind of antivirus software I used on my Android, and I said "none" and he flipped out about how unsafe it was. Other people chimed in saying how all androids need antivirus apps and I've never heard of such a thing. I do have ad-blockers and a VPN but never downloaded an antivirus. Should I? If so, what would you recommend? Thanks lemmings, love you.

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Maybe against the grain, here, with all the comments saying No, but: If you were interested in trying something out, I would give Hypatia a go. It's a FOSS-based app, available on F-droid. It's basically a ClamAV front-end. Pulls from their signature lists for Android, alongside other more general AV signature lists. Just an option.

Absolutely. Everyone here is acting like PDF and JPEG exploits on Android don't exist.

I agree that OP shouldn't pay for one, and that most AV apps are, at best, garbage, but there are also reasons to have one, and reasonable ones to install - Hypatia being one of them.

Given the restrictive nature of mobile operating systems, such exploits are much less impactful than on desktop OSs. Furthermore, if you are dealing with those exploits, you are probably victim of a targeted attack, which is well above what normal users worry about.