Double Check That Your Android Antivirus App Is Actually Working
Antivirus software is designed to keep our devices safe from malware, but what happens when the problem is with the antivirus application itself?
A recent report by AV-Comparatives found that 138 antivirus apps for Android available on the Google Play store are failing in their duty of detecting viruses and may even pose a serious security threat to your Android device.
How did they test
AV-Comparatives tested 250 antivirus applications on the Google Play store in an attempt to install and run 2,000 known malicious applications as well as 100 safe applications. The site then rated each antivirus application based on how many threats it accurately captured, as well as the number of false positives.
Out of 250 applications, 80 detected at least 30 percent of all threats and had no false positives, and 138 were deemed “dangerous”. Apps were rated “risky” based on one of the following factors:
- The app has received a score below 30% of the AV Comparative threshold
- The app relied on questionable white / black lists that gave false positives and / or left dangerous loopholes open.
- The applications themselves have been identified as Trojan horses or Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUA).
Although the apps in the latter category were completely excluded from the test results, the report has a section for discussion and comparison. One of the more interesting discoveries was that these applications tend to use similar detection methods, whitelisting, and even user interfaces.
It’s also worth noting that some antivirus apps don’t work properly in the background on Android 8 or higher. These applications can detect most threats during manual scanning, but cannot detect threats while running in the background. This is an obvious vulnerability, but since they otherwise work well, they are not flagged as “risky” by themselves. You can read the full report results here .
How to Choose an Effective Antivirus App for Android
If your antivirus application is listed as dangerous in the AV-Comparative report, or if it is below the acceptable accuracy range, there is an easy solution: install a new antivirus application. And if you don’t have an antivirus app for Android and need recommendations, we’ll help you.
According to the report, 23 apps scored the highest in accuracy, including zero false positives. We reiterate AV-Comparatives’ recommendation to use one of the following options:
- AnLab
- Antiy
- Avast
- AVG
- AVIRA
- Bitdefender
- Bullguard
- Chile Security
- Emsisoft
- ESET
- ESTSoft
- F-Secure
- G Data
- Kaspersky Lab
- McAfee
- PSafe
- Sofos
- STOPzilla
- Symantec
- Tencent (not available in the US)
- Full protection
- Trend Micro
- Trustwave
The report also provides Android users with some tips on what to look out for when choosing an antivirus app, including:
- Don’t rely on user reviews as few users rate accuracy and many questionable companies will pay for positive reviews. (This also applies to downloads and update frequency, as rogue apps can often get large downloads and update frequently.)
- Look for apps from trusted and reputable companies, especially those with reputable desktop antivirus software.
- Free apps, even from trusted developers, should only be used as a trial run before purchasing the premium version and should not rely on effective antivirus protection.