Malware on My Android Phone

#1

Post by rossjudson » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 6:51 AM UTC

Re: Malware on My Android Phone

#2

Post by kwdc » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 7:37 AM UTC

"Google Play Protect was also completely unhelpful, which was a big disappointment. First because Google certainly knows which applications they removed from their store for malware reasons, but even so, I would expect Google Play Protect to at least flag any app it finds on my phone that is not on their store. Such an app is not necessarily malware, but it should certainly be flagged.

Google Play Protect could also do some behavior profiling to analyze what apps are doing in the background. A service launching recurring VIEW intents on web sites in the background should have raised a flag to the system."

Sounds good.

I sense that there so many teams involved such a feature is not on their radar. So "they already know they blocked it" and "the existing installed app should be blocked" imply that two teams know what the others are doing.

I'm guessing that the team that does the removal from the store has no communications path to those who would add a flagging mechanism for already installed apps.

Re: Malware on My Android Phone

#3

Post by pw6hv » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 7:48 AM UTC

A QR code reader was the problem then... I am an Android user since the dawn of time and I was so surprised when my wife showed me that on her iPhone the QR code reader is embedded in her camera app... I wonder why it is not the same in any version of Android that I have used (now I am on Android One).

This plus the native support for CardDav and CalDav are pushing me to try iOS next time I have to change my phone.

Re: Malware on My Android Phone

#4

Post by romanows » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 7:53 AM UTC

pw6hv wrote: post #3

A QR code reader was the problem then... I am an Android user since the dawn of time and I was so surprised when my wife showed me that on her iPhone the QR code reader is embedded in her camera app... I wonder why it is not the same in any version of Android that I have used (now I am on Android One). This plus the native support for CardDav and CalDav are pushing me to try iOS next time I have to change my phone.

On my Pixel 4a: Camera / Modes / Lens. That will open Google Lens which should scan QR codes.

Re: Malware on My Android Phone

#5

Post by ce4 » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 7:56 AM UTC

I trust the F-Droid store more due to its curated (FOSS-software-only/no-trackers) maintainer based model and default to them if there's an app that I need, especially simple stuff that tends to mostly be adware on the playstore

Re: Malware on My Android Phone

#6

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 7:56 AM UTC

pw6hv wrote: post #3

A QR code reader was the problem then... I am an Android user since the dawn of time and I was so surprised when my wife showed me that on her iPhone the QR code reader is embedded in her camera app... I wonder why it is not the same in any version of Android that I have used (now I am on Android One). This plus the native support for CardDav and CalDav are pushing me to try iOS next time I have to change my phone.

[deleted]

Re: Malware on My Android Phone

#7

Post by TooCreative » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 7:57 AM UTC

Strange article

    I unlocked my phone and two
    accidental clicks led me to
    agree to a dialog that my brain
    immediately registered as suspicious

What type of dialog can pop up on your Android screen after unlocking and install "malware"? What is "malware" here? It looks like they mean an app from the play store?

    The next day, I picked up my phone and
    when I launched Chrome, I immediately
    noticed it was displaying a spammy URL.

How can one app alter the behavior of another?

Re: Malware on My Android Phone

#8

Post by muro » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 7:59 AM UTC

romanows wrote: post #4

pw6hv wrote: post #3

A QR code reader was the problem then... I am an Android user since the dawn of time and I was so surprised when my wife showed me that on her iPhone the QR code reader is embedded in her camera app... I wonder why it is not the same in any version of Android that I have used (now I am on Android One). This plus the native support for CardDav and CalDav are pushing me to try iOS next time I have to change my phone.

On my Pixel 4a: Camera / Modes / Lens. That will open Google Lens which should scan QR codes.

It does - just checked.

Re: Malware on My Android Phone

#9

Post by izacus » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 8:05 AM UTC

pw6hv wrote: post #3

A QR code reader was the problem then... I am an Android user since the dawn of time and I was so surprised when my wife showed me that on her iPhone the QR code reader is embedded in her camera app... I wonder why it is not the same in any version of Android that I have used (now I am on Android One). This plus the native support for CardDav and CalDav are pushing me to try iOS next time I have to change my phone.

Pretty much most of Android phones have QR code reader embedded in the camera app as well.

Re: Malware on My Android Phone

#10

Post by Sander_Marechal » Mon, Jan 11, 2021, 8:08 AM UTC

pw6hv wrote: post #3

A QR code reader was the problem then... I am an Android user since the dawn of time and I was so surprised when my wife showed me that on her iPhone the QR code reader is embedded in her camera app... I wonder why it is not the same in any version of Android that I have used (now I am on Android One). This plus the native support for CardDav and CalDav are pushing me to try iOS next time I have to change my phone.

I have a Pixel 2. It scans QR codes with the default camera app just fine. When it detects a QR code you get a little popup you can click. It even works with regular 1D barcodes.