Anti-Virus for Android burn it!

[perksie]

Adrian Ludwig, lead engineer for Android security says you just don't need it:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2015/04/24/android_antivirus/

[Cleoriff]

Must admit I was always worried about whether to have a/v on my phone or not. @MI5 has always told me I didn't need it on either of my phones (S3 and now Note 3) so i was guided by him. My husband, on the other hand, who is more into computers than mobiles, is not happy unless he has antivirus on his S3...

[viridis]

Never used it on phones.
Permission information is on every app you install.

[MI5]

Been saying the same for years.
The only one I use is Lockwatch but that is for its other features.

[paulbacon]

Other than apps, have no drive by downloads or malware from visiting sites been written for android?

[Anonymous]

It's clearly one of those issues that's always likely to divide opinion, but even speaking as an Apple diehard, I do sometimes wonder if we are too complacent about the risks.

[Bambino]

As secure as Google says it is, it still isn't invulnerable, as witnessed yesterday by the spam attack on Google Maps: 

http://techcrunch.com/2015/04/24/google-works-to-improve-spam-detection-systems-on-google-maps-after...

I'd rather run an anti-virus app for my own peace of mind. I use Bitdefender, which is cloud based and only runs when on WiFi or data, so it uses very little of anything on my phone and tablet.

[Anonymous]

Here's an interesting article about mobile banking:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/consumer/25953741

[jonsie]

To be blunt there are a lot of very clever people out there who have the knowledge to hack anyone. I use Lookout on all my devices simply so I can wipe them or find them. Probably worthless in the grand scheme of things but if gives me a little piece of mind. ...

[perksie]

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@jonsie wrote:

To be blunt there are a lot of very clever people out there who have the knowledge to hack anyone. I use Lookout on all my devices simply so I can wipe them or find them. Probably worthless in the grand scheme of things but if gives me a little piece of mind. ...

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I agree @jonsie theft or loss is probably a bigger concern for most people, I'm using Prey Project for that purpose.