Official and non-official OS, Market and non-market apps danger

[cliffords]

Here is a question for advanced android technicians.
Can there be a danger (not meaning brick the phone but meaning my data might be accessed by others) in using non-official OS or non market apps?
Is the official OS safe from data theft?
Is the Market apps safer than non-market apps?
Is a virus detection program necessary now ?
Is the Blackberry system more secure than the Android?
CliffordS

[Scythe]

Can there be a danger (not meaning brick the phone but meaning my data might be accessed by others) in using non-official OS or non market apps?

The permissions for apps are the same regardless of the "market" used. A non-official OS however poses more of a danger to your data. Although it's never happened (yet), that's the only real threat to your data being accessed. Also if you install an app that steals your data, you would have had to approve the access to your system. So, just make sure the permissions make sense before installing (if a game needs access to your contacts for instance, it's doing something not-good).

Is the official OS safe from data theft?

Yes (no known exploits yet)

Is the Market apps safer than non-market apps?

Again, they use the same permission system so they're the same level of safety.

Is a virus detection program necessary now ?

You don't need a virus protection program until a virus is deployed and active within Android. As such, don't download or install one since there are no viruses out for Android at the moment.

Is the Blackberry system more secure than the Android?

They're on a rather even plane, but BB's offer some higher encryption for certain tasks (enterprise email namely).

[cliffords]

Excellent reply!
Thank you.
CliffordS