Report: Most Free Android Antivirus Apps Useless

Researchers at German antivirus testing lab AV-Test.org run regular certification tests on PC antivirus products under Windows 7, Vista, and XP. This month, though, they turned their attention to the many antivirus products available for Android devices. Their conclusion: most of the free ones are useless. Or rather, they're worse than useless because their users gain a false sense of protection.

For testing they selected seven popular free antivirus apps from the Android Market. They also included F-Secure Mobile Security and Kaspersky Mobile Security for comparison purposes.

Each product was installed on an Android device containing inactive specimens of over 150 recent Android threats. Researchers ran an on-demand scan and recorded how many threats were detected. Kaspersky and F-Secure detected over half. The best free product, Zoner Antivirus, caught 32 percent. All the rest detected under 10 percent, and some didn't detect any samples at all.

Next researchers installed each product on a clean device and attempted to install ten widespread malicious apps. As expected, the real-time protection component of F-Secure and Kaspersky detected and blocked all of the samples. Once again Zoner Antivirus was the only free product with decent protection, blocking eight of the ten samples. All the rest blocked either one or none.

The most popular app tested, based on Android Market figures, was Antivirus Free by Creative Apps, with from one to five million installations. The most functional free app based on these tests is Zoner Antivirus, but it has just 50 to 100 thousand users. The report concludes that many millions of Android users are relying on free antivirus that offers next to no protection.

About Our Expert

Neil J. Rubenking

Principal Writer, Security

My Experience

When the IBM PC was new, I served as the president of the San Francisco PC User Group for three years. That’s how I met PCMag’s editorial team, who brought me on board in 1986. In the years since that fateful meeting, I’ve become PCMag’s expert on security, privacy, and identity protection, putting antivirus tools, security suites, and all kinds of security software through their paces.

Before my current security gig, I supplied PCMag readers with tips and solutions on using popular applications, operating systems, and programming languages in my "User to User" and "Ask Neil" columns, which began in 1990 and ran for almost 20 years. Along the way, I wrote more than 40 utility articles, as well as Delphi Programming for Dummies and six other books covering DOS, Windows, and programming. I also reviewed thousands of products of all kinds, ranging from early Sierra Online adventure games to AOL’s precursor Q-Link.

In the early 2000s, I turned my focus to security and the growing antivirus industry. After years of working with antivirus, I’m known throughout the security industry as an expert on evaluating antivirus tools. I serve as an advisory board member for the Anti-Malware Testing Standards Organization (AMTSO), an international nonprofit group dedicated to coordinating and improving testing of anti-malware solutions.

The Technology I Use

Much of the testing I do, particularly testing with real-world ransomware, is just plain dangerous. To perform such tests safely, I sequester them inside virtual machines managed by VMWare Workstation. For cross-platform testing, I use a MacBook Air, a Google Pixel 4, and a 6th-generation iPad.

I rely on my Delphi coding skills to create and maintain small applications. These include programs to check whether an antivirus correctly handled the malware it detected, launch dangerous URLs and record the security program’s reaction, and analyze the malware that I collect for use in testing. I also wrote a tiny browser and text editor for use in testing security apps that have predefined reactions for known products.

I do my writing and research on a Dell OptiPlex desktop, relying on Microsoft Word (my fingers know all the shortcuts). Many of my articles include charts and analysis; Excel is my go-to for those. When work hours end, though, I escape the bounds of Microsoft and Windows. There’s an iPhone in my pocket, I relax with my oversized iPad, and my Kindle Oasis is always loaded with the best science fiction and fantasy.

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