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We Have Moved!

We’re now conveniently located near the corner of Whitcomb and Westnedge behind the Burger King. We are the upper suite in the rear of the building. If you need driving directions, please don’t hesitate to call!

Geek Easy Computers
435 Whitcomb St. UL 201
Kalamazoo, MI 49001
(269)548-TECH (8324)

Android Anti-Virus – Is it Real?

The hot topic in the Android community right now is malware aka viruses.  Its unthinkable but unfortunately its true.  Unscrupulous individuals have developed malware that can infect your android smartphone.  They can masquerade as legitimate apps, so its even more important to only download apps from known sources (i.e. Android Market, Amazon App Store).

So how do you protect yourself?  Well if you listen to some, anti-virus apps are what you need.  Therein lies the confusion.  The anti virus companies are treating this the same way they do desktop anti virus.  Over promising and under delivering.  One study showed that a sampling of 10 free android anti-virus apps found less than 10% of the malware in the test.  A classic case of getting what you pay for.  Users are so used to having anti-virus, that when the apps appeared in the Market, they snapped them up.  Fear mongering reports from the media didn’t help much.

Im not saying that free Android anti-virus apps dont help at all.  Even the few paid anti-virus apps dont fare much better.  Im saying that at this point and time, a little common sense and due diligence will protect you just as much.  When installing an app, pay attention to what permissions it ask for.  A simple app that just points to a web site shouldn’t need to access your SMS or phone.  If it does, that should be a huge “red flag”.  A lot of these “sms trojans” are circulating in more spurious parts of the web.  They can send texts or make phone calls without your knowledge to premium numbers racking up charges on your bill.  Some will ask permission to access your contacts or email.  Again that should immediately make you suspicious.

The simplest way to protect yourself is to only download apps from reputable places like Android Market or Amazon App Store.  Leave the download from Unknown Sources option disabled.  Don’t download from foreign pirate sites!  Free Android anti-virus apps really havent shown themselves to be worth the install, and worse they lull the user into a false sense of security.  Until that changes, just use good old fashioned common sense, and stay aware of what is accessing what on your phone!

For more info Click here –> https://geek-easy.com/contact-us/

420 N. Church St. STE 1

Kalamazoo, MI 49007

(269)548-TECH (8324)
info@geek-easy.com

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