Mobiles Don’t Need Antivirus

Google has attacked companies developing Android antivirus and claiming that this operating system can be vulnerable to malware. The company’s open source supremo Chris DiBona has accused the companies flogging antivirus software for their Android OS of claiming that it’s vulnerable at the first place, and called them “charlatans and scammers”.

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Chris DiBona apparently became incandescent with rage after noticing some media reports dedicated to “inherent” insecurity of open source applications that is used not only in Android, but also Apple’s iOS. He explained that operating systems like Android, iOS, and Research in Motion’s BlackBerry OS do not need antivirus software at the first place. In the interview he claimed that from time to time he runs into stories about open source that are literally making him nuts.

DiBona explained that virus companies were simply playing on fear in order to try to flog BS protection software for operating systems like Android, RIM, and even iOS. He called them “charlatans and scammers”, claiming that people who work for a company selling virus protection for these operating systems should be at least ashamed of themselves. Although he didn’t name the companies that should have been ashamed of themselves, we know that McAfee, Symantec, F-Secure, and Kaspersky Lab all offer mobile anti-virus software DiBona could have been talking about.

Google’s representative claimed that mobile devices, if not flawless, should be more secure than laptops and PCs. Thus far, he pointed out that no major mobile phone has a malware problem in the traditional sense which machines running operating systems like Windows and sometimes Mac have ever seen. He believes that this is due to the user sandboxing models.

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