Here’s What You Need to Know About Android Malware

3G and 4G Smartphones are pretty amazing, capable of doing so much more than their older cousins ever could. The Android line of devices is especially notable for sleek design, serviceability and just how widely available the phones and other gadgets are. As is often the case with advanced and advancing technology, there are some bad points behind Android phones and devices.

You know how they’re so uniquely nifty for allowing not only internet access but faultless browsing, much like using the same web from your own home computer? Well that is admittedly nice but there were unforeseen problems which have come up over the years. Or maybe they were foreseen. It seems strange Android should do so little to stem the damage caused by Malware but their devices have little in the way of built-in security features against this particular kind of threat.

Because of their seamless internet access and the ability to download, install and use executable files, Android devices are subject to the same dangers as home computers. Here are three different, especially bad bits of malware to watch out for as well as ways to stop your expensive phone from getting infected in the first place.

It Could be Worse

It seems noteworthy that Google went out of its way to produce an especially efficient malware and adware prevention program for the Android marketplace. All the apps available in the Play Store as well as the music, videos and other downloads therein are subject to some serious scrutiny, screened often by their Bouncer program. It helps some but the number of attacks continues to increase despite this security investment.

It’s not really much infrastructure at all and the program relies almost solely on a few lines of code to keep blocking out potentially harmful applications. Andr/KongFu-L is the name of an especially wicked Trojan which worms its way into Android owners’ phones when they download false versions of the Angry Birds Space game.

It seems almost right that one of the most popular quickie games of our time would be a favorite target for malware producers but that doesn’t make it any less harmful to smartphone owners. To better protect yourself from this and other threats, you should look into something like Kaspersky Labs. It doesn’t cost a ton compared to other security suites and it is widely available, something you might actually be able to download directly from the manufacturer to your phone.

It is Too Easy to Contract

Getting your hands on the app or game you want right when you want it has become the norm for Android users everywhere. People are used to thinking about something they want, pressing a couple buttons and having it moments later. That’s very convenient and very fast but also a very dangerous habit to fall into as is evidenced by the number of malware infections caused by clicking through an installation too quickly. It happens to PC users just the same way; an ad is closed out, a link clicked or a policy agreed to and all of a sudden, your Android doesn’t work like it used to anymore.

[Read more: Can My Phone Get a Virus?]

One of the worst offenders, Android.PjappsM, is only one of the programs which perform tasks like this. Hackers would download legitimate apps, infect them with the Android.PjappsM virus then redistribute the bad apps on off-Google websites. It cost users millions and tried to extract data from everywhere while infecting more and more machines.

Avast is a good antivirus which watches websites while you’re surfing and warns you away before you even download bad content. For some websites this especially strict security will prove unnecessary but it’s far better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

Someone May be Monitoring You Now

Especially wicked malware like the TapSnake which infected thousands of Android phones through a harmless-looking Snake game is some of the worst. What looked like the same old thrill people keep going back to again and again for kicks was actually a shell containing a kind of data snake that would root through your Android phone, gobble up information and send it out to about a dozen different vendors.

This malware was so advanced that it was actually monitoring people with a satellite up in space, noting the GPS coordinates of infected phones and delivering the information to cyberstalkers all over the world. What they did with that information is anyone’s guess but if you know someone who owned an Android phone and went missing all of a sudden, this could be why.

It’s a scary thing to think about but if you think just a little more, you realize Google is watching you almost as closely. Companies out there are monitoring a lot of your information whether you know it or not. To keep the worst offenders away, hide behind Ikarus, an efficient and light antivirus software that’s perfect for Android phones.

You Watch Out For You

Ultimately, your Android phone is just that – yours. You’re the one who paid for it and you’re the one who will need to protect it from outside intruders. Just like you wouldn’t wave it around in front of people you suspected might steal it, there’s no way you should casually leave your Android phone unguarded from internet attacks, not when protecting it takes only a couple clicks to get up and going.

There is no warranty for what might happen when you start interacting with other people and entities online; no company would be foolish enough to offer a warranty like that because more often than not, things go wrong, very wrong.

The bottom line is you must better protect your stuff if you don’t want some nasty person behind an internet handle to wreck it for you. The above three examples are only a few of the worst malware programs out there, all of which are waiting for the unwary worldwide web surfer to download them.