Virus protection for Samsung tablets/Ipads

[Beachman]

Howdee,

I just did an internet search and got conflicting answers, so I thought I would see what you guys do. Some sites say tablets don’t have a hard drive and if you download from GoolePlay your safe from problems PC’s have.

My 9 year old daughter has a Samsung tablet which was originally bought on the premise she plays educational games. That started out okay, but over the months some free games were also downloaded and she has been looking at U Tube clips on the latest craze of Looming.  (Rubber band bracelets)

I get home yesterday to the wife asking why is it when the internet is opened, it automatically opens to a porn site. I had to remind my wife that I haven’t used my daughters tablet for about 6 months, so don’t think I’ve been looking at inappropriate sites on her tablet.

So I gather one of these free games she has downloaded has installed some form of malware. So any trips on how to remove it and how to stop it happening in the future?

Thanks

[HKB Electronics]

Most if not all of the major anti virus mobs have Android anti virus software though as I have never
used it don't know how good it is.

A hard disk is just memory, ie stores software, the tablet will have solid state memory, viruses are software,
doesn't matter what the memory type is the virus "infects" software, generally the virus writer will go after
a common app most likely in the system operating software, if it is a virus then you'll need to clean it an if
it is a vital software it may kill the tablet.

Check to see if anything has been installed on the browser software and if the home page has been set to
the site concerned.

Other option and as I'm not a tablet person may be to have the tablet cleaned and new software/firmware
installed.

As for the porn sites, don't jump to the conclusion your daughter has been searching, a lot of technical hobby
sites are hosted by porn sites as they pay the hosting fees.

Cheers
Leigh

[Kangaron]

Give avast a run, can't hurt and it is free.
I run it on all things android.
http://www.avast.com/en-au/free-mobile-security

[elle.mac]

Backup photos then do a factory reset.

We have kaspersky internet security - multi device.  We currently have it install on the PC and also my husbands Samsung galaxy and trying to get it onto the iPad.

[MrCruza]

I use Lookout on all things Android

[Bill]

I had a similiar problem on my galaxy 3 tablet.
Installed AVG and problem gone.
Been running AVG for years on the home computers and have never had a problem.
Bill

[Aaron Schubert]

From what I understand, you will have a hard time getting a virus/malware on Ipads.

Android software is more susceptible because it is open source, meaning anyone can modify and create games etc

I haven't bothered with one on my note - you just have to think twice about what you view and download

Aaron

[Pete_R]

I run the free version of AVG on mine. It is also available as a Pro version for a monthly or annual fee.

[SteveandViv]

Like a few of the lads on here I run an IT department that looks after health through out the Kimberly and obviously medical records are sensitive data. Virus scanning software can help to protect you from harm however in a recent article with Symantec they noted that only 48% of viruses are actually captured by software these days.

Many viruses arrive as email attachments and from web pages visited. So please be careful no matter how good you virus software is. In Symantec's words, they are moving to a relative state in fighting against the bad guys meaning you are more likely to get help after the device is infected as the number and frequency of infections it just to high to release update on the first detection.

With that in mind please ensure personal data is always backed up and not connected to the device.

And as a last point - more virus enter a business network via mobile phones these day so just be careful no matter what you are running.

[Jasman]

My 9 year old daughter has a Samsung tablet which was originally bought on the premise she plays educational games. That started out okay, but over the months some free games were also downloaded and she has been looking at U Tube clips on the latest craze of Looming.  (Rubber band bracelets)

Hey Beachman, you would have to be pretty unlucky to get malware out of the play store these days as Google scan looking for dodgy code all the time now.  My suggestion is download a couple of the many scanners (lookout and maybe avg) and give is a scan with each and see what happens - if it removes at least one app I would assume you've got the culprit otherwise I would consider a factory restore. 

Assuming the dodgy app/s has been removed I would then remove the second scanner leaving Lookout installed to provide ongoing protection.  At this point you may need to restore the home page once the dodgy app is removed, to do so open the browser and choose settings from the drop down menu and from there you should see the set home page option.  Just change it to a friendly website like Myswag.org

I would be worried she is installing her apps not from the play store, rather downloading from one of the dodgy pirate sites that are littered with crapware like she has found and installed.  You can disable these apps being installed (aka "side loading") by going into settings>security> and ensure the unknown sources option is unticked.  This will also stop any dodgy apps being installed that come in via email.

Android is pretty safe in general at this point, I'm yet to see a vulnerability that can do much damage (though I'm sure it will come) I don't think youtube has any known vulnerabilities so her latest looming creation should be pretty safe.  One other thing to ask her is if she has "rooted" her device (stop laughing children), rooting is the process of gaining super user access to the operating system which could make is much more susceptible to malware etc.  it's probably unlikely but kids are so bloody smart these days I wouldn't discount this.

Hope this helps,
Jason.

[bodgie]

Like a few of the lads on here I run an IT department that looks after health through out the Kimberly and obviously medical records are sensitive data. Virus scanning software can help to protect you from harm however in a recent article with Symantec they noted that only 48% of viruses are actually captured by software these days.

Many viruses arrive as email attachments and from web pages visited. So please be careful no matter how good you virus software is. In Symantec's words, they are moving to a relative state in fighting against the bad guys meaning you are more likely to get help after the device is infected as the number and frequency of infections it just to high to release update on the first detection.

With that in mind please ensure personal data is always backed up and not connected to the device.

And as a last point - more virus enter a business network via mobile phones these day so just be careful no matter what you are running.

This is very true.

My favourite Firewall vendor has a sandboxing technology that executes Windows, Android and Java files of various types in a monitored/controlled environment to see if they contain nasty stuff. I can't remember the official number but several months back I was told this technology was detecting something like 150 unknown pieces of Android malware a week from 3000 customers who use the service.

They also detect a large volume of new Windows malware every week too. Of the new windows stuff they discover they scan it across the top 5 AV vendors software, most don't have any idea about this malware 90 odd percent of the time. A week later they scan the same sample and only 70% from memory detect this week old sample.

As a disclaimer I always tell my clients to be aware of the person with the vested interest, usually this is the person trying to sell you something so make of this what you want. Not that I'm trying to sell you something.

The moral of this story is that if you rely on old AV technology that detects only known vulnerabilities you are exposed for a large part of the time. Having up to date AV/Malware/spyware software and a $100 router/firewall is not a complete security solution given the way threats are evolving.

My advice is to do some research on products based on facts and not on marketing, there are some websites out there that will provide this information, google is your friend.

If you'd like an opinion from me, I currently recommend Webroot, simply because it works differently to traditional AV vendors, plus I've had reasonably good success with it cleaning up badly infected machines.

The best thing you can do to stay secure though is keep all of your devices patched to minimise your vulnerability to bad software. You also need to be very careful what you open or download as an attachment, if it looks suspicious it most likely is.

Jason

[Dion]

Beachman - it could be something as simple as the default home page has been modified?  Alternately, as others have mentioned, some side-loading may have happened?    Have a bit of a dig around first just to see.

My favourite Firewall vendor has a sandboxing technology that executes Windows, Android and Java files of various types in a monitored/controlled environment to see if they contain nasty stuff. I can't remember the official number but several months back I was told this technology was detecting something like 150 unknown pieces of Android malware a week from 3000 customers who use the service.

Dynamic threat evaluation tools - very neat pieces of gear, but not a universal solution.  There are ways around them too if a person so wants.

[Jasman]

Just to add my 2cents to what needs to be done to provide a reasonable level of security in the home is:

1. Make sure your computer, tablets, phones are fully patched (ie. do the updates).  Especially those for your browser, Java and Flash

2. Install a decent virus scanner (the best one changes month to month so stick with a name brand) , at the very least Microsoft security essentials is a free scanner for Windows and does a reasonable job. Also, it will most likely be on by default but if not turn the firewall on your pc on.

3. That $100 router provides a huge amount of protection, just make sure that both the NAT and SPI firewall are turned on. (Refer to manual).  If you don't know exactly what you're doing don't play with the advanced settings.

4. Disable java in the browser (in Windows go to control panel>java), this may be hard to live with but give it a try before you discount it as Java is often the conduit for bad stuff.

5. If your ISP/email provider offers virus and spam protection make sure you turn it on.

6. Don't fall for the tyranny of the default, change all the default passwords to something complex and long.

7. The most important thing though is think before you click.

This won't give you enterprise level security but it is very good, I don't think many tablet users are going to consider having security appliance in the home.

Dynamic threat evaluation tools - very neat pieces of gear, but not a universal solution.  There are ways around them too if a person so wants.

Agreed Dion, much of the stuff in the Play store before Google cracked down snuck back in as .apk updates (ie. good apps gone bad) and I'm pretty sure they would have snuck past most systems.

Cheers,
Jason.

[bodgie]

Dynamic threat evaluation tools - very neat pieces of gear, but not a universal solution.  There are ways around them too if a person so wants.

There is a way around any security control if someone has time and motivation. While I agree these tools are not a complete solution they demonstrate how ineffective old school technologies such as AV and legacy firewalls are becoming.

The most common way people circumvent security controls is via social engineering. Often people will be sent targeted malicious mail messages to compromise a PC. Sometimes people will call them and pretend to to a support person, it never ceases to amaze me how many people will volunteer their password to people with a plausible sounding story.

Jason

[Dion]

There is a way around any security control if someone has time and motivation. While I agree these tools are not a complete solution they demonstrate how ineffective old school technologies such as AV and legacy firewalls are becoming.

The most common way people circumvent security controls is via social engineering. Often people will be sent targeted malicious mail messages to compromise a PC. Sometimes people will call them and pretend to to a support person, it never ceases to amaze me how many people will volunteer their password to people with a plausible sounding story.

Jason

Some of the recent spear phishing (targeted attacks) are very well done. 

[Beachman]

Hi All,

Thanks for your help and over the weekend going to download some of the suggested downloads and see what happens. If that doesn’t work then it’s looks like a factory reset is on the cards.

Thanks