topic Re: Android Malware Warning in Off-Topic

Android Malware Warning

Bambino — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 18:44:43 GMT

Please take heed.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2019/07/10/25-million-android-phones-infected-with-malware-that-hides-in-whatsapp/amp/

Re: Android Malware Warning

pgn — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 19:00:56 GMT

Thanks, @Bambino!

I have also wondered why WhatsApp offers me a setting to enable draw video over other apps at times - unrelated, but worrying nevertheless.

Re: Android Malware Warning

Glory1 — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 19:29:10 GMT

Thanks for the information @Bambino. Fortunately my phone has the latest security patch and I've been using WhatsApp with no problems thus far. But it's good to know what's out there and be very careful, at the same time.

Re: Android Malware Warning

jonsie — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 19:50:59 GMT

Thanks for the heads up @Bambino

Re: Android Malware Warning

TallTrees — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 20:33:00 GMT

Thank you @Bambino for the information. 👍

Re: Android Malware Warning

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 22:12:51 GMT

Thank you @Bambino for letting us know

Re: Android Malware Warning

Cleoriff — Wed, 10 Jul 2019 22:44:54 GMT

That's a bit of a shock, so thanks for the heads up @Bambino

Fortunately I haven't used Whatsapp for a long while now, so hopefully I will be ok.

Re: Android Malware Warning

gmarkj — Thu, 11 Jul 2019 07:11:14 GMT

Thanks for the warning @Bambino.
Even more reason to stick to the official store!

Re: Android Malware Warning

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 18:44:09 GMT

Yet another good reason why mobile operators shouldn't sit on firmware updates for months to 'optimise the customer experience'

Re: Android Malware Warning

pgn — Fri, 12 Jul 2019 19:41:42 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Yet another good reason why mobile operators shouldn't sit on firmware updates for months to 'optimise the customer experience'

Re: Android Malware Warning

Anonymous — Sat, 13 Jul 2019 12:52:42 GMT

@gmarkj wrote:
Thanks for the warning @Bambino.
Even more reason to stick to the official store!

That’s all you need to know really, and even the linked article makes the same point:

“....staying away from unofficial Android app stores might help...”

Mind you, “might help” suggests that you could still be unlucky even with apps that are downloaded from the official Google Play Store. It’s obviously too easy for unscrupulous developers to take advantage, and more needs to be done by Google, to ensure there’s a tighter vetting process before new apps go live.

I always find it’s worth reading the reviews before downloading any new software, and that’s one way of finding out whether an app is legitimate or not.

Edit: typo