Do not touch this one Android setting and most malware will leave you alone, mostly

[RV_]

Security fears and hype can lead the less technically oriented who don't read the articles linked to may think they will never understand nor be safe. Nothing is further from the truth. Despite the excerpt up front, if you own Android phones and/or tablets read the article in the link at the bottom.

 

Read this article and be safer without needing a degree in computer science to do it.

 

Except:

 

"Android is a security mess, with malware lurking behind every corner, but simple common sense can avoid many of the hyped threats.

 

If you love to traverse the web and install random apps from weird and shady parts of the internet, of course you're going to have a bad time. This is accepted wisdom in the Windows world, and so it should be in the mobile world, too.

 

Make no mistake, Android has massive fundamental security issues to tackle, and there are millions of hostile apps looking for every opportunity to empty your bank accounts, or use devices as spam relays, or cryto-ransom and lock a phone until you hand over your hard-earned, or just sit there lurking and waiting for the moment a commmand-and-control server tells them to turn evil.

 

Against this toxic cesspit of threats, it is surprisingly simple to eliminate a great many potential threats, and that is not allow an Android device to install apps from anywhere else other than the Google Play Store.

 

This takes the form of the Unknown Sources option in modern Android releases.

 

A particularly nasty trojan masquerading as a Flash Player update that looked to steal credentials from Australian, New Zealand, and Turkish banking customers appeared recently, and set off the usual Android malware hype cycle.

 

However, there were two important hurdles that this trojan had to clear before it could get to work: Convince the user to allow installation of an untrusted app of unknown origin, and then gain Device Administrator status on the device. It's a process that would involve at least one, potentially two, warning dialogs depending on the status of the Unknown Sources setting."

 

Much more in the article here: http://www.zdnet.com/article/do-not-touch-this-one-android-setting-and-most-malware-will-leave-you-alone-mostly/?tag=nl.e539&s_cid=e539&ttag=e539&ftag=TRE17cfd61

[rynosback]

Makes me glad I went with Apple products now.

[wildmandmc]

ryno, there is a slow progression of attacks on apple. gone are the days where apple/mac were free from malware. As more ppl switch to apple, so do the hackers, spammers.

[rynosback]

But I think it is much harder to get into. I mean you can only get apps at the Apple Store online that is made or checked out by Apple. VS Android is much more of an open market and I think has a MUCH higher security risk. I mean the Fed with all of its talent can not open an IPhone.

[skp51443]

Apple like everyone else has security issues, they do a pretty decent job of disclosing what they are and having patches available.

 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/03/21/apple_security_fixes/

 

 

Apple has today emitted security updates for pretty much everything it makes, and you should install them as soon as you can because it's all bad news.

iPhones, iPads and iPods should grab iOS 9.3, Macs should fetch OS X 10.11.4 or Security Update 2016-002 for non-El Capitan Macs, Apple Watches should get watchOS 2.2, and Apple TVs should install tvOS 9.2. Your hardware should eventually offer the updates to you automatically, or you can follow these instructions to get going right away.

As well as fixing the iMessage decryption flaw that we were warned about on Sunday, the new software also closes bugs that allow malicious Wi-Fi networks, PDF files, fonts and more to execute malware on devices and computers.

Opening a booby-trapped file, or connecting to a dodgy wireless network, could lead to your computer or handheld being hijacked to spy on you, steal your passwords, and so on. In this latest round of patches, there's a heady mix of remote code execution flaws, code signing bypasses, escalations to kernel mode, and kernel memory map leaks, which can be chained together to fully compromise Apple gear.

 

If you have an Apple read the rest.

 

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Android is pretty good about security patches too with a BIG BUT in there, Google issues patches but depending on your device vendor the patches might be late... Weeks, months or even never released. I see patches on my Nexus devices fairly quickly, on my Samsung gear I don't expect anything for at least a month. On the cheap stuff I don't ever expect to see an update, if I really need it I'll have to buy a new device. Google hates this system and is working to come up with a better plan but it isn't here yet and may not apply to older gear. Update speed is something one should be aware of before buying an Android device, finding out it isn't going to be getting fixes after you bought it is not good.

 

 

Android is based on Linux and offers many of the protections that you will find in a full Linux system but again, like a full Linux, it also offers you the power to shoot your foot off if you give it permission to do something unwise. Apple limits your ability to shoot yourself which is not a bad thing for most folks.

[Pieere]

Found that out on an old android smartphone. Didn't know what i was doing and shut off the button for Do Not load Third party APPs. Good thing it was just a $20.00 phone! Good thing I bought cheap to learn on!