Android malware has jumped up 472% since July

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Comments

  • Reply 41 of 136
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dickprinter View Post


    But us iPhone fanboys don't go to Android-centric sites evangelizing our "taste".



    Why do Fandroids insist upon doing just that?



    You haven't visited very many Android sites, have you?



    At any rate, that's a different issue, since I don't actually do that. I go to AppleInsider because I do like Apple products--I used to own an iPhone. They just don't always mesh with my needs.
  • Reply 42 of 136
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacShack View Post


    Anybody with a bit of common sense can tell you that a world without rules and a system to verify whether people are living by those rules (the law is only as effective as its enforcer) is a total mess and anarchie.



    The last time I heard this kind of logic was a teacher who was arguing that we don't have freewill for the same reasons...
  • Reply 43 of 136
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dickprinter View Post


    But us iPhone fanboys don't go to Android-centric sites evangelizing our "taste".



    Why do Fandroids insist upon doing just that?



    Eh...not true...



    Except in the instances I've realized the iPhanboys go to Fandroid sites solely to troll (because most Android sites deal SOLELY in Android news), whereas I and others are here in an attempt to paint a better picture of why we like Android especially considering the overwhelming number of articles that have NOTHING to do with Apple and are purposefully flame baiting.





    (there are and have been TRUE trolls as well - not what people call trolls)
  • Reply 44 of 136
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacShack View Post


    Well they are. But the fact that you don't see it tells a lot. If you are an Android owner you either do not care or worry about these possible security problems that come with an open system. Or you are willing to take the risk and worry for the sake of an open system. These two categories of android users do this because it is their way of life. Anybody with a bit of common sense can tell you that a world without rules and a system to verify whether people are living by those rules (the law is only as effective as its enforcer) is a total mess and anarchie. Are you more free with such a system? No! Choice is not defined by the amount of options available. But by the ability to make a choice. If I present to you thousands of canned jam without any labels on it nor the gaurantee that neither of them will kill or harm you. You have lots of options but you cannot make an (informed) decision and thus have little choice. If I give you 3 cans of jam with a clear description and the guarantee that it has been tested I have more. Choice. It is a way of living. Trust me.



    Have you spent a decent amount of time with any Android device?
  • Reply 45 of 136
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Wow, what a surprise.



    Yes, its actually a good thing. No one is gonna bother writing any malware for iOS as long as there is Android around. Its easier and there are more targets.
  • Reply 46 of 136
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by redbarchetta View Post


    I assure you we don't want your pity. I feel sorry for those, such as yourself, who have their identity so completely wrapped up in what mobile OS they use that they start to identify themselves--and others--by their phone. iPhones and Androids are a device; they are not a way of life.



    Grow up.



    I think the thing is it that they are becoming a way of life. How often do you look at your device each day when not making a call/SMS. How soon after waking up, how long before sleep.



    That is not an attack, I am talking about all of us. Me included
  • Reply 47 of 136
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by gmcalpin View Post


    iOS: Security through obscurity.



    The worlds most popular mobile platform... I doubt its via obscurity.
  • Reply 48 of 136
    c4rlobc4rlob Posts: 277member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AbsoluteDesignz View Post


    You guys do realize this is merely the existence of malware and not the existence of the malware IN the marketplace right?



    You all sound like you'd rather lock your kids inside (with nice toys and good food and friends only you approve of) as opposed to giving them advice and letting them make their own way in the world.



    Hello people. IT'S SOFTWARE, NOT A CHILD. I don't need (or want) it to be open and alive, I just need it to do a task as smoothly and trouble-free as possible - end of story. There's a big difference between a child with a living spirit and software to make my phone work ? but I'm guessing that distinction can easily get lost in the openness-obsessed-reduce-everything-to-a-lab-algorithm-geekdom that Google is building.



    Don't get me wrong, labs and algorithms and openness can be great ? but they can also go too far.
  • Reply 49 of 136
    c4rlobc4rlob Posts: 277member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacShack View Post


    Well they are. But the fact that you don't see it tells a lot. If you are an Android owner you either do not care or worry about these possible security problems that come with an open system. Or you are willing to take the risk and worry for the sake of an open system. These two categories of android users do this because it is their way of life. Anybody with a bit of common sense can tell you that a world without rules and a system to verify whether people are living by those rules (the law is only as effective as its enforcer) is a total mess and anarchie. Are you more free with such a system? No! Choice is not defined by the amount of options available. But by the ability to make a choice. If I present to you thousands of canned jam without any labels on it nor the gaurantee that neither of them will kill or harm you. You have lots of options but you cannot make an (informed) decision and thus have little choice. If I give you 3 cans of jam with a clear description and the guarantee that it has been tested I have more. Choice. It is a way of living. Trust me.



    Very well-expressed perspective!!
  • Reply 50 of 136
    Mobile platform security is an important issue, no matter what OS you're using.



    However, the report this post is based on is quite deliberately sensationalist. 472% increase certainly seems scary - my, what a big number it is! But if you dig around and pull out the numbers, it's obviously a tempest in a teapot: http://www.nirdvana.com/2011/11/17/a...ensationalist/



    To summarize:

    The number of malware apps on the Android Marketplace has risen from 29 to 137; not exactly earth shattering. To look at it another way: 0.037% of all available apps on the market.



    I call shenanigans.
  • Reply 51 of 136
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by logos View Post


    Mobile platform security is an important issue, no matter what OS you're using.



    However, the report this post is based on is quite deliberately sensationalist. 472% increase certainly seems scary - my, what a big number it is! But if you dig around and pull out the numbers, it's obviously a tempest in a teapot: http://www.nirdvana.com/2011/11/17/a...ensationalist/



    To summarize:

    The number of malware apps on the Android Marketplace has risen from 29 to 137; not exactly earth shattering. To look at it another way: 0.037% of all available apps on the market.



    I call shenanigans.



    Thanks for this post. Too bad it will fall on deaf ears to the fanbots on this site. Neither the flame bait AI article or the original article it linked to actually bothered to state the actual number of malware apps. Why bother with real facts when sensationalism gets more site clicks?
  • Reply 52 of 136
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AbsoluteDesignz View Post


    Have you spent a decent amount of time with any Android device?



    Is that a serious question?
  • Reply 53 of 136
    irnchrizirnchriz Posts: 1,616member
    As a company rule if any of our customers inquire about smartphones we recommend iPhones/BB and Windows mobile handsets only.



    We cannot recommend that any user purchase an android handset for business use. Why? malware/virus you say? NO. Its just a terrible OS from a support point of view. You easily spend double or triple the time setting up android devices as you would with other handsets due to the 'slapped together nature of android.



    ICS 4.0 may change this but at present its not worth the bother.
  • Reply 54 of 136
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dickprinter View Post


    But us iPhone fanboys don't go to Android-centric sites evangelizing our "taste".



    Why do Fandroids insist upon doing just that?



    I wouldn't call it "evangelizing." But I suspect Android users post here because AppleInsider (and several other Apple-oriented "news" sites) insist on running attack pieces on Android almost daily. Often, these pieces are baseless sneering that willfully misrepresent and cherrypick data. Android users post here to try to correct the record.



    The other tech sites mainly talk about their own communities. There are about a dozen major Android news sites; none of them run hit pieces on Apple. The Blackberry sites don't run stories bashing other platforms; nor do the WP7 sites. Yes, occasionally, someone will post an anti-Apple comment on an Android site, but that's the exception, not the rule. Contrast this with AppleInsider or Daring Fireball, which spend almost as much time bashing other platforms as they do talking about Apple's.



    It's only on the Apple sites that I see this level of constant hateful vitriol. It makes your entire community look bad.
  • Reply 55 of 136
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by caliminius View Post


    Thanks for this post. Too bad it will fall on deaf ears to the fanbots on this site. Neither the flame bait AI article or the original article it linked to actually bothered to state the actual number of malware apps. Why bother with real facts when sensationalism gets more site clicks?



    More to the point -- it's not the malware you have to worry about. It's the "legitimate" apps. There have been several reviews showing that many legitimate apps (on all platforms!) send login data in the clear, spy on users, store data insecurely, etc. Here's a recent one about iOS - http://www.troyhunt.com/2011/10/secr...dont-know.html. But, as I said, this issue isn't exclusive to iOS.



    This is a serious issue. It's a shame so few folks talk about it. And this cartoonish "iOS is pristine; Android is a cesspool" meme doesn't help anyone.
  • Reply 56 of 136
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Is that a serious question?



    I've been asked that question in bullet point form in regards to iOS/iPhone, so I figure asking a much simpler question would suffice.
  • Reply 57 of 136
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by derekmorr View Post


    I wouldn't call it "evangelizing." But I suspect Android users post here because AppleInsider (and several other Apple-oriented "news" sites) insist on running attack pieces on Android almost daily. Often, these pieces are baseless sneering that willfully misrepresent and cherrypick data. Android users post here to try to correct the record.



    The other tech sites mainly talk about their own communities. There are about a dozen major Android news sites; none of them run hit pieces on Apple. The Blackberry sites don't run stories bashing other platforms; nor do the WP7 sites. Yes, occasionally, someone will post an anti-Apple comment on an Android site, but that's the exception, not the rule. Contrast this with AppleInsider or Daring Fireball, which spend almost as much time bashing other platforms as they do talking about Apple's.



    It's only on the Apple sites that I see this level of constant hateful vitriol. It makes your entire community look bad.



    I've been trying to say that in a lot less of an elegant way...thank you for this post. I hope people here read it. Because this explains exactly why I am here.
  • Reply 58 of 136
    freerangefreerange Posts: 1,597member
    And the idiots keep buying them by the millions... they are going to get what they paid for...
  • Reply 59 of 136
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by FreeRange View Post


    And the idiots keep buying them by the millions... they are going to get what they paid for...



    a 3 one-hundredths of a percent chance of a virus?



    question...why does it threaten you that there are people who buy things that you don't?
  • Reply 60 of 136
    hill60hill60 Posts: 6,992member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AbsoluteDesignz View Post


    I'm saying that being locked in a garden where nothing OTHER PEOPLE don't approve of gets in is not fun. And is pretty much the antithesis of freedom.



    I only have on my phone what I approve of and I have enough choice in the million's of things i can put on it.



    More music, games, Apps, Books, Magazines, websites, movies, porn than I could ever get through over an entire lifetime.



    So much for the "restrictions" of a "walled garden".



    Besides I can always root my iPhone and install a custom ROM.
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