Question for you android users

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I am awaiting a barrage of links "proving" my Android phone can kill my family by the way

It may not kill your family but if you're prepared to pay 10k+ dollar phone charges for a little malware calling goodness it's up to you

[warhed]

See? You couldn't provide a link, I did. Your turn.

http://www.redmondpie.com/this-mobile-spyware-can-remotely-take-complete-control-over-your-ios-or-android-device/

[warhed]

It may not kill your family but if you're prepared to pay 10k+ dollar phone charges for a little malware calling goodness it's up to you

That cannot happen unless you allow the app to.  When you download an app from the market, or even sideload an app from an off market source, you are (in Android) presented with a list of permissions the app requests.  So if you download a wallpaper that requests permissions to use the phone, that's your own fault.  Not only that, but malware is quickly removed from the Market once found. 

I simply have an app on my phone that monitors everything for me, I can set global settings to prevent any app from using any services I don't want it to.  But I never have it enabled as since the very first Google phone, I have never had any problems with malware at all. 

[MrRiplEy[H]]

That cannot happen unless you allow the app to. 

Typical android user response that is so far off the truth it's not even funny. Mobile phone carriers have installed backdoors to droid phones which enable malware makers to bypass every single question during the install.

91% of all mobile threats affect Android devices 91% folks!

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Android-LeNa-Malware-Root-Access-Lookout-Security,news-14726.html

new variant of the Legacy Native (LeNa) malware has been spotted. It uses the GingerBreak exploit to gain root permissions of a device using Android 2.3.3 or below without having to ask user permission.

[warhed]

Typical android user response that is so far off the truth it's not even funny. Mobile phone carriers have installed backdoors to droid phones which enable malware makers to bypass every single question during the install.

91% of all mobile threats affect Android devices 91% folks!

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Android-LeNa-Malware-Root-Access-Lookout-Security,news-14726.html

That method physically cannot work on my phone, my last phone, or the phone before that, as the Android release after Gingerbreak was released was patched, which was literally years ago.  Also, gaining root access is not a carrier backdoor.  It's called root access and is native to Linux, it's the equivalent of Administrator in Windows.  I have a nice little app called, "Superuser" that comes preinstalled with any Rom or Rooting method, infact, without the Superuser app, your phone doesn't have root permissions.  There is no malware in existence that can bypass asking me for permission for root access.  Sorry buddy.  I know it pains you, keep up the conversation, we can work through your blind hatred together brother.

[warhed]

By the way, only select phones could even be rooted with the Gingerbreak method.  There's a reason that malware never took off beyond proof of concept.

[warhed]

And for your average less tech-inclined Android user, the only way to download an App that had that exploit, was to install from an off-market source and sideload the app.  Which by default is disabled in Android.  So the only way to have infected yourself with that would be:

Dig through pages of developer options in Android's settings, enable installing of APKs from non-market sources.  Then you would have to download the infected app from a private website with no affiliation to Google, ignore the permissions the app requested upon installing, and happen to have a phone and software compatible with Gingerbreak (the Gingerbreak root method never even worked on my Droid 1 anyway, it always failed and gave me boot loops).  

If you managed to fit all that criteria, you deserved bad things to happen to you.

Next?

[Skuzzy]

Hmm, are you saying Apple is bribing all the tech sites and all the bloggers + other individuals so that the truth about horrible infections never come to air?

No, they do not need to bribe.  Everyone in the tech industry knows if you say anything negative about an Apple product, Apple will sue you.  The simple threat of that happening keeps quite a bit of information out of the press.  What lunatic would risk losing his/her business over some article?

If you do not know that about Apple, what rock have you been living under?

[MrRiplEy[H]]

That method physically cannot work on my phone, my last phone, or the phone before that, as the Android release after Gingerbreak was released was patched, which was literally years ago.  Also, gaining root access is not a carrier backdoor.  It's called root access and is native to Linux, it's the equivalent of Administrator in Windows.  I have a nice little app called, "Superuser" that comes preinstalled with any Rom or Rooting method, infact, without the Superuser app, your phone doesn't have root permissions.  There is no malware in existence that can bypass asking me for permission for root access.  Sorry buddy.  I know it pains you, keep up the conversation, we can work through your blind hatred together brother.

Sorry bud but the carrier backdoors are an entirely separate way of gaining root access to Android. I just couldn't find the articles in 2 minutes - but I remember reading about them. Thanks for clearing that thing about linux and root access by the way. It's all new to me, been using linux only since 1998. 

[MrRiplEy[H]]

And for your average less tech-inclined Android user, the only way to download an App that had that exploit, was to install from an off-market source and sideload the app.  Which by default is disabled in Android.  So the only way to have infected yourself with that would be:

Dig through pages of developer options in Android's settings, enable installing of APKs from non-market sources.  Then you would have to download the infected app from a private website with no affiliation to Google, ignore the permissions the app requested upon installing, and happen to have a phone and software compatible with Gingerbreak (the Gingerbreak root method never even worked on my Droid 1 anyway, it always failed and gave me boot loops).  

If you managed to fit all that criteria, you deserved bad things to happen to you.

Next?

91% of all mobile malware affects Android. What more do you need? Having an Android phone with a subscription service is literally a ticking timebomb in your pocket. Which is why my kids will never get anything but a prepaid connection to their droids.

[warhed]

91% of all mobile malware affects Android. What more do you need? Having an Android phone with a subscription service is literally a ticking timebomb in your pocket. Which is why my kids will never get anything but a prepaid connection to their droids.

91% of how many malware applications?

[warhed]

Sorry bud but the carrier backdoors are an entirely separate way of gaining root access to Android. I just couldn't find the articles in 2 minutes - but I remember reading about them. Thanks for clearing that thing about linux and root access by the way. It's all new to me, been using linux only since 1998. 

You're wrong yet again.  My carrier (Verizon) has no method available to root my phone over the air.  Next?  Without ADB access, they wouldn't even be able to unlock my bootloader.

[Noir]

Having an Android phone with a subscription service is literally a ticking timebomb in your pocket.

 

[MrRiplEy[H]]

91% of how many malware applications?

All.

[warhed]

I think he uses "literally" a little too "liberally."