Every year, more and more owners of tablets and smartphones running Android suffer from malware. And the reason for this is not the poor security of the operating system, but the carelessness of the users themselves, who, despite all the warnings from the mobile device, download dubious content onto it, and even from unverified sources. Mobile antiviruses, of course, can protect your phone from malicious code, but they additionally load the RAM and processor, and also consume battery power, which leads to a decrease in the device’s performance and a decrease in its autonomy. Let's figure out whether you need an antivirus on Android and whether you can do without it.
There is a lot of talk online about viruses on Android and reproach the developers of this operating system for the fact that it is poorly protected from their negative influence. However, the source of such statements is most often the antivirus companies themselves. By doing this, they are trying to attract more potential buyers to their products and earn their capital from them.
Open-source operating systems, which include Android, are more susceptible to third-party interference than iOS. However, in the vast majority of cases, viruses penetrate Android not due to the presence of some “loopholes” in the system, but through the inattention of the users themselves.
Android can independently protect itself from malware. Therefore, before you finally decide whether you will install an antivirus on your smartphone or tablet, you should consider the security capabilities built into this operating system:
Despite the good level of built-in protection, many still install an antivirus for Android to be on the safe side. The great popularity of such software is due not only to its high efficiency in blocking malicious code, but also to the fact that it opens up additional opportunities for the user:
Despite the fact that there are a large number of mobile antivirus programs on the Internet, they are all configured and work almost identically. Therefore, as an example, let’s look at how to protect Android from viruses using Avast Mobile Security:
By installing an antivirus program and making the appropriate settings, you will reliably protect your mobile device not only from malware, but also from thieves.
An additionally protected phone will not be able to infect any virus, of course, unless you yourself give it access to the device. Therefore, when downloading any software or visiting Internet pages, adhere to the following recommendations:
To summarize, it should be noted that it is difficult to give a definite answer to the question of whether an antivirus is needed for a tablet or smartphone. Some people do just fine without additional protection, while others simply need it. The main thing here is to use your device correctly and not install suspicious software. Even the most modern antivirus program will not be able to protect a mobile device from the user’s negligence and carelessness.
Viruses can be of two types:
1. Fake - the name and icon of some well-known application are used, but inside there is only malicious code. Most viruses are of this type.
2. Trojan horse - malicious code is added to a normal application, which works together with the application.
1. Steal money from a SIM card: call or send SMS to paid numbers until the SIM card runs out of money.
2. Steal information: send passwords from online banking, bank card data or personal files to scammers, send messages with viral links to numbers from your address book in your name.
3. Block the normal operation of the device: display a ransomware banner that prevents you from using the device.
4. Use the power of your device: show hidden ads or mine cryptocurrencies.
Fraudsters disguise viruses as harmless applications and files: browsers, players, games, navigators, books, antiviruses. Then they distribute them:
For example, you are looking for some game or program on the Internet, and you end up on a forum. Someone left the necessary link, and everyone unanimously thanks him.
In fact, the forum and commentators are not real.
Or go to a site with pirated films and TV series, a message appears. It says that the smartphone/tablet is infected with viruses or that some program is very outdated. It even happens that the device begins to vibrate or make strange sounds.
In fact, this is not the case and everything is fine with the device.
As a rule, these are SMS from “girls from dating sites”, from free classifieds sites, letters from “notaries from Germany”, messages about winning the lottery.
Be careful, there are no miracles. In most cases these are scammers.
All such messages have a common goal - to get you to click on a link so that the virus will download to your device.
For the virus to start working, it is not enough to download it - you also need to install it. Typically, viruses are downloaded to the “Download” folder and look like application installation files with the “apk” extension.
If you click on a virus, a list of permissions will appear. Permissions are the actions that an application will be able to perform after installation.
If you click “Install”, the virus will install and start working.
Most viruses are written by non-professionals who want to get money quickly and without any problems with the law. Therefore, the standard signs of such viruses are permissions to send messages or calls. When such a virus is installed, it will begin quietly sending SMS or calling paid numbers.
Let's compare real applications and viruses. Dr.Web Antivirus:
Permissions of the original antivirus from the Play Store
Permissions of a virus that pretends to be an antivirus
Yandex Navigator:
Permissions of the original navigator from the Play Store
Permissions of a virus that pretends to be a navigator
Game Talking Tom 2:
Permissions of the original game Volume 2 from the Play Store
Permissions of the virus that pretends to be a game Volume 2
Of course, not all applications that request access to calls and messages are viruses. And not all viruses request access to paid features.
If scammers want to film with your camera, you will need access to the camera and the Internet.
If your files are needed, they will ask for access to memory and the Internet.
If they want to block the screen with a banner, they will ask for administrator rights.
And some viruses even know how to hide permissions during installation.
It is difficult to identify a well-made virus - you either need to look at the source code of the application, or install the virus on the device, remove logs from it (incident log) and understand them. Fortunately, such viruses are rare. More often than not, two guidelines will be useful to you:
If an application was downloaded from an unknown site and requests access to paid functions, it is a virus in 99% of cases.
It is very difficult for an untrained person to distinguish a virus from a normal application. To protect users, Google has created a special catalog with applications - Play Market.
Before adding an application to the Play Store, Google checks whether it contains malicious code. Users who download apps from the Play Store are more protected than those who download apps from different sites and forums. But remember that nothing is completely safe, so choose apps seriously: read permissions carefully and look at ratings.
Fraudsters have even learned to fake numbers and email addresses, so messages with viral links can also come from your friends.
If the device is rooted, the virus will be able to register itself in system applications and then only a complete flashing of the device can remove it.
Fraudsters can automatically download viruses to your device via MMS. This is due to vulnerabilities in the Stagefright library.
To disable MMS auto-download, select: Messages → Options → Settings → (Advanced) → MMS → Auto-receive (Auto-download) → Disable.
If your device suddenly gets infected with a virus that sends SMS to paid numbers, the SIM card balance will be replenished until the money on the card runs out. Messages from the bank are usually blocked.
Tip: To receive messages from banks and other important senders, buy a separate number that no one will know and a simple phone number.
There are no clear signs; it all depends on the virus. Some are noticeable immediately after installation (a banner appears and access to the device is blocked), others may not reveal themselves for a long time. In most cases, the signs are:
If a ransomware banner appears on the screen and prevents you from using the device:
Do not transfer money to scammers - they still won’t unlock your device.
Remove the SIM card to prevent money from being debited from your account.
Boot your device into Safe Mode.
If the banner in safe mode disappears, disable administrator rights for all applications.
If the banner does not disappear, go to step No. 11.
Review all installed applications and remove those that are unknown to you.
Reboot your device. The device will boot in normal mode, there should be no banner.
If the banner appears after a reboot, go to step No. 11.
Download an antivirus you trust over Wi-Fi from the Play Store.
The design of viruses and the operating mechanisms of antiviruses change daily, so it is impossible to recommend any specific antivirus. Focus on other users' ratings and reviews. According to the author, good antiviruses are: Eset, Kaspersky and Dr. Web.
Scan your device with an antivirus and remove any viruses found.
Uninstall the antivirus that you installed.
Download another antivirus and check your device again.
If the previous options do not help, reset your device.
If you cannot cope with the virus yourself, contact a Samsung service center.
If you are a novice user and are not confident in your abilities, you need it. But only one.
If you use your device carefully and follow safety rules, you don’t have to install an antivirus.
Kaspersky Lab develops security software for all types of high-tech devices. Naturally, there are also products for gadgets on the Android OS, which are called Internet Security and Mobile Security.
Based on the names, you can understand that one antivirus package is aimed at protecting against attacks from the Internet, while the other has more general tasks, providing complete protection for the mobile device. However, when deciding how to remove Kaspersky from Android, the type of application is not decisive - the uninstallation procedure is performed in the same way in any case.
It is often impossible to completely remove Kaspersky from a computer without using a special uninstaller utility. But in the case of the mobile version of the antivirus, it is usually possible to get by using standard tools.
So if you know how to remove applications from Android, then uninstalling antivirus programs will not be something unusual for you.
After completing these steps, the antivirus will be removed from your mobile device. You won't be able to get it back by recovering deleted files on Android. The only way is to download the application again and install it on your smartphone or tablet.
A fairly common problem is the loss of the secret code required to remove Kaspersky from Android. You can restore it using the web portal anti-theft.kaspersky.com, where you need to log in using your personal data specified when setting up “Personal Contacts” or installing “Anti-Theft”. 
Done, now you know the access key required to remove the antivirus.
If the application is blocked, use the secret code obtained from the web portal to access the settings.
If the described methods do not help you, contact support using the My Kaspersky service. Describe the current situation in detail so that the Laboratory specialists can promptly help you resolve the problem.
Why did your mobile phone suddenly begin to behave differently than usual, or even “take on” its own “life”? Perhaps because a malicious program has settled in it. Today, the number of viruses and Trojans for Android is growing exponentially. Why? Yes, because the cunning virus writers know that smartphones and tablets are increasingly being used by our fellow citizens as electronic wallets, and they are doing everything to transfer funds from the owners’ accounts into their pockets. Let's talk about how to understand that a mobile device has caught an infection, how to remove a virus from Android and protect yourself from repeated infections.
Not all of these symptoms are 100% indicative of a virus, but each is a reason to immediately scan your device for infection.
If the gadget remains operational, the easiest way to remove the virus is to use the antivirus installed on Android. Run a full scan of the phone’s flash memory, and if a malicious object is detected, select the “Delete” option, saving the neutralized copy in quarantine (in case the antivirus detected something safe and mistook it for a virus).
Unfortunately, this method helps in about 30-40% of cases, since most malicious objects actively resist being removed. But there is control over them too. Next we will look at options when:
If you can't clean your phone or tablet normally, try doing it safely. The majority of malicious programs (not just mobile ones) do not show any activity in safe mode and do not prevent destruction.
To boot your device into Safe Mode, press the On/Off button, place your finger on “Power Off” and hold it until the “Enter Safe Mode” message appears. After that, click OK.
If you have an old version of Android - 4.0 and lower, turn off the gadget in the usual way and turn it on again. When the Android logo appears on the screen, press the Volume Up and Volume Down keys simultaneously. Hold them down until the device boots up completely.
While in safe mode, scan your device with an antivirus. If there is no antivirus or it does not start for some reason, install (or reinstall) it from Google Play.
This method successfully removes advertising viruses such as Android.Gmobi 1 and Android.Gmobi.3 (according to Dr. Web classification), which download various programs to the phone (in order to increase the rating), and also display banners and advertisements on the desktop.
If you have superuser rights (root) and you know exactly what caused the problem, launch a file manager (for example, Root explorer), follow the path where this file is located and delete it. Most often, mobile viruses and Trojans place their bodies (executable files with the .apk extension) in the system/app directory.
To switch to normal mode, simply restart your device.
Removing viruses on a phone via a computer helps when a mobile antivirus cannot cope with its task even in safe mode or the device’s functions are partially blocked.
There are also two ways to remove a virus from a tablet and phone using a computer:
To scan your mobile device files with an antivirus installed on your computer, connect your phone or tablet to the PC with a USB cable, selecting the “As a USB drive” method.
Then turn on USB.
After this, 2 additional “disks” will appear in the “Computer” folder on the PC - the internal memory of the phone and the SD card. To start scanning, open the context menu of each disk and click “Scan for viruses”.
Android Commander is a program for exchanging files between an Android mobile gadget and a PC. When launched on a computer, it provides the owner with access to the memory of a tablet or phone, allowing you to copy, move and delete any data.
For full access to all the contents of the Android gadget, you must first obtain root rights and enable USB debugging. The latter is activated through the service application “Settings” - “System” - “Developer Options”.
Next, connect the gadget to your PC as a USB drive and run Android Commander with administrator rights. In it, unlike Windows Explorer, protected system files and directories of the Android OS are displayed - just like, for example, in Root Explorer - a file manager for root users.
The right half of the Android Commander window shows the directories of the mobile device. Find the executable file of the application (with the extension .apk) that is causing the problem and delete it. Alternatively, copy suspicious folders from your phone to your computer and scan each of them with an antivirus.
If the above operations did not lead to anything, the malicious program still makes itself felt, and also if the operating system ceases to function normally after cleaning, you will have to resort to one of the radical measures:
Any of these methods will return the device to the same state as after purchase - there will be no user programs, personal settings, files or other information (data about SMS, calls, etc.) left on it. Your Google account will also be deleted. Therefore, if possible, transfer the phone book to the SIM card and copy paid applications and other valuable items to external media. It is advisable to do this manually - without using special programs, so as not to accidentally copy the virus. After this, begin the “treatment”.
This option is the simplest. It can be used when the functions of the operating system and the device itself are not blocked.
Go to the Settings application, open the Personal - Backup section and select Factory reset.
A “hard” reset will help deal with the malware if it is not removed by any of the above methods or has blocked login. To our joy, access to the Recovery menu (system recovery) is retained.
Logging into Recovery works differently on different phones and tablets. On some, for this you need to hold down the “Volume +” key when turning on, on others - “Volume -”, on others - press a special recessed button, etc. The exact information is contained in the instructions for the device.
In the Recovery menu, select the option “wipe data/factory reset” or simply “factory reset”.
FlashingFlashing is essentially reinstalling the Android OS, the same extreme measure as reinstalling Windows on a computer. It is resorted to in exceptional cases, for example, when a certain Chinese virus is embedded directly in the firmware and has been living on the device since its “birth.” One of such malware is the spyware android spy 128 origin.
To flash a phone or tablet, you will need root rights, a distribution kit (the firmware itself), an installation program, a computer with a USB cable or an SD card. Remember that each gadget model has its own individual firmware versions. Installation instructions are usually included with them.
Secure IT (Security) is an application that allows you to carry out a whole range of measures to ensure the security of your Lenovo smartphone, however, due to its intrusiveness, it irritates many users who want to get rid of it as quickly as possible. How to remove Secure IT (Security) from your device?
What does SecureIT look like?
Secure IT (Security) constantly hangs in the notification shade and annoys many. By clicking on it, the application itself opens, ready for use.
Of course, you can turn off the notification from this application and get rid of it in the notification shade, but if you don’t plan to use it, then why not delete it?
If you try to remove the SecureIT application in the usual way, you will realize that this is impossible due to security settings, since the application is a system one. The first step is to obtain administrator rights (root). There are different ways to get root, some of them are described in the articles:
Launch Total Commander and look for the folder /System/priv-app, and in it LenovoSafeCenter-ROW.apk. With a long press, select this file and in the menu that opens, click on the “Delete” button, after which we answer all questions in the affirmative.
After this, the application will be deleted, but the link about it in the notification shade will remain, but after a reboot it will also disappear.
If the application is still running, you need to go to /data/app and delete com.lenovo.safacenter.ww-1.apk. Due to the fact that this section of the file system is a system one, be very careful not to delete anything unnecessary, as this may lead to incorrect operation of the firmware and failure of the smartphone.
