Anyone worried about viruses?

**tphang1** · 09-30-2008, 10:49 AM

My take on viruses and malicious malware is its often targeted at Windows b/c windows is the most widely used operating system so their odds of getting something is greater. Android definitely seems to be the program to be heading the charge in new smart phones so I'm sure as our phones become more popular, more targets will be aimed at our G1 via apps since we have the open ability to download......

Alot of good ideas floating around. I'm sure there will be many apps that will not be supported by Tmobile or the Android community for legality reasons, we need a second app site that is willing to do all the downloading and testing of these new apps not officially supported by Tmob, HTC, or Google but yet have the same type of quality control. I'd hate to download something that has 40 good reviews all made by the same group of hackers to make me the first victim.

**hawtseks** · 09-30-2008, 12:09 PM

I think we've got quite some time before that happens, though.

Currently, the Symbian os seems to be the main target of malicious code and for good reason: Symbian was 57% of the market in Q3 2008. No other mobile OS out currently was even close with RIM's software coming second with 17%, then windows mobile 12%, then linux 7%, THEN iPhone OS with a puny 2.8% (anyone else scratching their heads why everyone keeps comparing Android software to iphone hardware?? anyways... )

Android is still not even in the public's hands yet so i'm pretty sure we'll be alright for a while.

EDIT: heres a nice article at goes against what i just said... dammit.. http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/02...-on-the-loose/

**heyitsnan** · 09-30-2008, 12:15 PM

good to hear.

**GrimShadows** · 09-30-2008, 12:20 PM

Originally Posted by secrecyguy

Also I am getting suspicious about the original poster and the replies I am seeing here. I noticed they have less than 20 posts here. (tphang1, GrimShadows, Lukster)

I think they are here to scare people. Maybe they are iPhone fans...

If that's what you guys are doing, it's not working. This is the Android Community and we are getting the G1!

Yes!! Be weary of those NEW people and their questions!! There must be a conspiracy involved!!
Oh wait.. that's me.. I guess the cat is out of the bag..

**McParty** · 09-30-2008, 12:32 PM

I thought the iPhone WAS a virus!!! LOL

**hawtseks** · 09-30-2008, 12:53 PM

here is more relevant reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...mputer_viruses

Sorry, I love to read the internet and spread my research to people on forums. Its what i do when theres nothing happening at work.. like now.. ugh... so bored!

**tphang1** · 09-30-2008, 03:18 PM

Originally Posted by hawtseks

here is more relevant reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...mputer_viruses

Sorry, I love to read the internet and spread my research to people on forums. Its what i do when theres nothing happening at work.. like now.. ugh... so bored!

so by this definition what i mentioned before is absolutely true..... some people have mentioned that LINUX is safe and not vulnerable to malware.... but this article suggests that the reason why not many Linux based systems are not infected is because the market share is so little that there really is no interest in targeting the linux users being they control less than 1% of the market.

I'm just listing a scenario and you can tell me what the realistic conclusion would be..... There are tons of companies that make a living off of selling anti viruses to help protect your computer, they make money by your fear that there is harm to be done to your system that holds alot of your personal valuable information. The phone market is a totally new market for them to tap into..... if the linux android OS system becomes the standard (popular) product then wouldn't these anti-virus companies want there to be some threat to our phones so they could swoop in and play captain save-a-ho?

realistically as this phone becomes more user friendly and much more convenient for us to use, the G1 would ultimately be our ultimate assistant / sidekick. Phones have already started assisting the majority of us in our daily lives.... now i can shop, buy, entertain, inform, create, navigate, manage my funds, input personal data all on this 1 single device.... why wouldn't someone want to tap into that well of information we carry around.

I think its only a matter of time before we realize there will be a need to protect ourselves. As the supply of the UNIX based system or linux or android whatever it may be start to increase.. the demand to target malware at that OS would also increase.

I certainly would not mind paying a few bucks to protect and backup my G1. wouldn't it be cool if everything we download for our G1 phones be copied remotely, so that we can reset our phones instantly and automatically update our information held remotely on our google account?

but then again I'm an apple fan boy and am only trying to sabotage the generated hype of the G1 phone too all few hundred users that are on this community site.....

**hawtseks** · 09-30-2008, 03:55 PM

Think of how users end up with viruses in the first place: mainly through email and web pages, both of which will be protected through Gmail and Google's browser. I highly doubt any applications will make it through the marketplace to the end-user with malicious code and without it being caught. The only other way would be users infecting themselves by installing software outside of Google's watchful eye.

Also, I don't think your scenario will become a reality for another few years, at the very least, but it will be reality eventually. Visa is writing programs to process payments through smart phones, eventually people will be doing things like checking their account balance or buying things online through their smart phones all the time. This is when attackers will try to infect peoples phones with software to steal information. So, its really good that people already have this mindset but its really not a danger right now.

**tphang1** · 09-30-2008, 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by hawtseks

Think of how users end up with viruses in the first place: mainly through email and web pages, both of which will be protected through Gmail and Google's browser. I highly doubt any applications will make it through the marketplace to the end-user with malicious code and without it being caught. The only other way would be users infecting themselves by installing software outside of Google's watchful eye.

Also, I don't think your scenario will become a reality for another few years, at the very least, but it will be reality eventually. Visa is writing programs to process payments through smart phones, eventually people will be doing things like checking their account balance or buying things online through their smart phones all the time. This is when attackers will try to infect peoples phones with software to steal information. So, its really good that people already have this mindset but its really not a danger right now.

I foresee alot of apps that will be high sought for that will not be embraced in the tmob, google, htc marketplace due to legalities. We'll just have to be more careful in the reputation of the programs we're downloading I guess.