![]() If you want to know more about tracking cookies or personal information you are automatically sharing, using a tool to do it is needed since both Microsoft and Google don't count that as malware. Most of the time installing a second malware scanning app isn't going to hurt anything - unless it's a bank account-stealing trojan disguised as a security app - and there are things that Windows Defender or Google Play Protect aren't going to consider malware. Google has included a malware scanner as part of its services package and that's all you need. Those days are gone and both Microsoft and Google have realized that it is important to provide the needed tools themselves and keep them up to date automatically. At one time, it wasn't a bad idea to use a third-party malware scanning tool on either operating system. If you haven't seen a notification about a bad app, that means you haven't had any.Īndroid is a lot like Windows in this regard. It regularly scans every third-party application installed on your phone and reports anything fishy directly to you. Most people think it exists to scan apps you have downloaded and installed from the Play Store, but that's not how it works. Unless your phone runs some fork of Android that has all things Google stripped away, you already have the malware scanner you need and it's called Google Play Protect. (Image credit: Source: Alex Dobie / Android Central) You already have the right malware scanner And once upon a time, you needed to pay attention or use a third-party app to make sure you didn't get into trouble with a bad app. This second type of malware is what smartphone users need to be concerned with, not a virus. ![]() ![]() But they are also regularly patched, which is why security updates are the most important updates of all. This type of misuse of our data isn't supposed to be possible, but there are plenty of people with bad intentions that are just as smart as the people who wrote the OS on your phone. Your phone can't get a virus, but it can get malware if you install it. ![]() This could be something that seems harmless, like which apps you have installed and how often you use them, or it could be sensitive, like your bank password. Usually, the malware tries to collect random data from other apps about you and then sends it back to some centralized server. And even if it were to get transmitted to another user, it has the same restraints on a different phone - someone has to manually tap a button that says yes when it asks to be installed.īut there are other types of malware. Once installed, that app can only access its own data and files so it can't copy itself somewhere else. No app can be installed without a user who has permission to install apps (that's you and any other users who have signed in to your phone) saying it's OK. (Image credit: Harish Jonnalagadda / Android Central) And if you like to tinker and have rooted your phone, you can grant yourself superuser permissions so that you can change anything you like. Some users and groups have elevated permissions, like the system level that Google or Samsung would have if you were using a Galaxy S22, for example. If you do not have the right permission as a user or the right permission as a member of a group, you can't change anything. Every file and folder on your phone knows what users and/or groups are allowed to modify anything about it. the system is also a user and it is in a different group with other permissions. You are a user, and as a user, you are part of a group of other users with similar permissions. This is because of the user/group permission model. Nothing on Android or iOS can be done automatically unless Google or the company that made your phone's operating system wants it to happen.Īpps can not install themselves on your Android phone. The word virus gets thrown around a lot, but did you know your Android (and iOS) phones and tablets can't get one or pass them along?īoth can get infected by other types of malware though, so it's important to recognize what can and can't happen.Ī virus is a bit of code that can automatically install itself, replicate itself, and pass itself along to another device without any assistance from you.
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