Google Engineer: Android Users Do Not Need Anti-Virus Software
Ryan Martin / 10 years ago
Is antivirus needed on mobile devices? It is a question that will get you conflicting answers depending on who you ask. Adrian Ludwig, who is the chief engineer for Android security at Google, has stated that antivirus serves no purpose for Android mobile users:
“I think … paying for a product that you will probably never actually receive protection from is not a rational reduction of risk – but people buy things for lots of reasons.”
Furthermore he claims the bulk of the security is done at Google’s end by scanning and verifying apps before they are allowed to hit the Google App Store. As a result he claims Android is one of the safest platforms out there and risks are overstated:
“And in practice most people will never see a potentially harmful application from our data … [in fact] most people won’t even know someone who has ever installed a potentially harmful application. So … I believe it is an overstated risk.”
Check out more details from the interesting interview at the source link. What do you think? Do you use antivirus for Android?
Source: Sydney Morning Herald
Image courtesy of eTeknix
