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Patch reliability is unclear, but widespread attacks make patching prudent. Go ahead and patch, but watch out for potential problems. |
ISSUE 21.20 • 2024-05-13 ON SECURITY By Susan Bradley For many years, I thought it silly to consider adding an antivirus program or other security sof
[See the full post at: Do you need antivirus for your phone?]
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
Apple has a VPN service when joining iCloud+ with Safari browser called ‘iCloud Private Relay‘
That’s in the article with the same link.
I have a (now older) Samsung Galaxy A-21s phone. It came with the Knox Security System pre-installed. I’ve kept it installed and active. I haven’t encountered any positive infection alerts, and I haven’t experienced any malware infections that I know of. The Knox Security system requests that I scan the phone from time to time (and I do), and it has notified me when any apps request permissions that do not appear to be needed, offering to disable those permissions. I usually agree, allowing the action. If nothing else, the Knox Security System helps me monitor app permissions, and performs regular security scans to ensure I have not contracted any known malware. Anti-malware on my phone may be overkill, but I’d prefer to be safe than sorry.
My2Cents,
Ernie
Thanks for the article. I appreciate that your experience is with Apple phones, but is there no other member of the editorial staff that uses Android? Last time I checked, although Apple makes more phones than any other company, the Android system is way more popular than Apple’s. I also appreciate that Android phone makers tweak the OS to suit their needs, complicating matters. Nevertheless, the underlying system is still Android. I encourage you to bring in at least one Android phone user to your staff that can supplement phone safety concerns for Android phones. Thx!
Not exactly a comprehensive report on the need (or lack) for Android security or antivirus. The article does lack Android details. It would seem trivial to find someone with Android experience who could address the question from an Android point of view.
-- rc primak
Do you need antivirus for your phone?
I have a Samsung Galaxy S23, and I’ve been using MS Defender for as long as I’ve had the phone. Samsung goes pretty deep on the security thing, and I’m satisfied that my phone is well protected. If I install a new App, the first thing I see is the permissions that the App requests, before the installation will complete.
MS Defender employs a VPN and works pretty much the same as in Windows. I use Firefox for my default browser, and all of my adblockers and security features are active on my phone. I don’t see ads except on the bottom of the screen when I’m playing solitaire in a waiting room somewhere.
I know it’s dubbed as a “resource hog” but I’ve been using Norton AV now for many years with all my devices. Hadn’t felt the need to install it on my iPhone or iPad until recently. Initially I was skeptical because of the built-in security Apple has with their goods, but now the times they are a changing.
It’s pricey but stable and gives me peace of mind. Works great with the mobile devices and on the M1Mac and Win7. Other than the add-on pop ups on the Win7 I continually ignore, it runs great all around. I have no issues with interference/bugs on the Safari browser using the VPN.
MacOS iPadOS and sometimes SOS
I care as an owner of a web site. Now put yourself in the shoes of the website owner that is trying to prevent denial of service, bots, spam attacks. You are using an IP address that is also used by attackers. The only way I can protect the site is to try to make sure humans and only humans access it. If you borrow the access from a spammer/attacker, I lose the ability to protect the site and keep it operational. The current state of affairs of web site protection that is open to the public is to look at the reputation of the IP address accessing the site and judge accordingly.
You want to be private. I want to keep the site safe from harm. We need to care about both.
Read this conversation: https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/web-site-security-without-relying-on-dirty-ip-addresses/
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
First off, there are two reputations: that of the VPN company and that of the particular server that you get assigned when you request a connection to a city/state/country.
As for VPN company reputation, I would switch away from PIA.
As for the reputation of any one VPN server, it matters because of sites like this one that restrict access to known bad IP addresses. I often have to turn off my VPN to get at AskWoody.com. Same for Consumer Reports. Not life and death, but annoying.
Get up to speed on router security at RouterSecurity.org and Defensive Computing at DefensiveComputingChecklist.com
When I see it fail is when the url is going to dropbox, or other cloud file storage locations. Virustotal will deem the link okay as the link of the site IS okay. It just when you click on the payload that it will be malicious.
Susan Bradley Patch Lady/Prudent patcher
Hi Susan – I have always been an Android user (phones and tablets) AND I have ALWAYS put AV on the devices. I used to use AVAST, but for the last several years I have been using MalwareBytes. This isn’t because I don’t trust the OS, whatever variant it is (Motorola’s, Google’s or Samsung’s) … it’s because it is the prudent thing to do with any digital device. Worth the added expense for the premium version of the AV suite too.
Been using Android since it’s first iteration (2008-9) Personally, I have about as much trust in Google’s “Play Protect” as I do in my ability to throw a piano 100 feet. PP has been shown, time and time over, to have let slip some really nasty stuff out of the Play Store and make some pretty good messes. No, I have used ESET Free AV for quite a while in it’s AV-stand alone* app for years. You DO have to update it’s AV definitions manually in “Free Mode”, but a year’s worth is only $17 or around there, and it’ll automatically update… (You can get 50% off when they run promos.)
No, merely staying with apps from the Play Store is not enough. You can download an app that is 100% clean, and then turns into malware on the next update. That’s happened too.
Heck, I’ve seen Android phones in the Universal Lifeline program distributed with malware encoded in the firmware, and called “System”!! (But that’s for poor folks, who we know don’t count. /sarcasm)
Definitely an AV on Android, folks. It’s got the worst ecosystem I ever saw. Nice phones for the price for those of us who can’t afford an Apple product, but ALWAYS run another AV besides PP.
(*I run just the stand-alone AV because I can’t stand these bloated “suites” that want to “be your everything,” wash the dog, feed the baby, wax the floor, etc, and in doing so suck up all your storage space.)
Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330 ("The Tank"), Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Newbie
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"The more kinks you put in the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes." -Scotty
Just click the “Options” link at the top of the post and select the “Report” option, then fill out the line with the details of why you’d like the post removed. The moderators will take it from there.
I’ve done this a few times and it’s worked fairly well. Give the moderators time to get to it.
It would seem trivial to find someone with Android experience who could address the question from an Android point of view.
RC, I tried, to the best of my limited ability: #2671650
Win7 Pro SP1 64-bit, Dell Latitude E6330 ("The Tank"), Intel CORE i5 "Ivy Bridge", 12GB RAM, Group "0Patch", Multiple Air-Gapped backup drives in different locations. Linux Mint Newbie
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"The more kinks you put in the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the pipes." -Scotty
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