Pegasus spyware is making all the headlines right now. A good security app is actually sufficient for defense. The AV-TEST laboratory checked 15 apps for a full 6 months in an endurance test. Although the apps are intended for end customers, they can also be found on many employee smartphones in the SME sector.
There are over 3 billion active Android devices worldwide and over 300 million new devices are added every quarter - and all of them are potential targets for attackers. If you don't want to be a victim, you should protect your Android with a security app. The AV-TEST laboratory had 15 apps in the endurance test for a full 6 months.
15 protection apps for Android against malware & spyware
Spyware is easy to fend off (Image: AV-TEST).
Cyber gangsters with bot networks and crypto miners try to hijack as many mobile devices as possible and use them for their own purposes. Because Android devices are usually available 24 hours a day and always online. And 3 billion devices are a large target group. If you don't want to be a victim, you should protect your Android smartphone or tablet with good security software.
The AV-TEST laboratory examined 15 Android security apps for 6 months in an endurance test from January to June 2021. The Android-internal protection application Google Play Protect was also tested as the 15th app. According to Google, this protection is always active and automatically checks every app on a device. The long-term test shows that this service does not provide particularly good security: every other protection app in the test is better than the Google protection.
Many security apps with top results
Each software is tested in the areas of protection, system load and usability. The laboratory awards up to 6 points for each category, i.e. 18 points as the best value. 9 out of 15 apps achieved the best value in the long-term test. They come from Avast, AVG, Bitdefender, F-Secure, G DATA, Kaspersky, McAfee, NortonLifeLock and Trend Micro. The complete test and all results can be viewed free of charge on the AV-TEST website.
More at AV-TEST.org
About AV-TEST AV-TEST GmbH is an independent provider of services in the field of IT security and anti-virus research with a focus on the identification and analysis of the latest malware and its use in comprehensive comparative tests. The fact that the test data is up-to-date enables the quick-response analysis of new malware, the early detection of virus trends, and the investigation and certification of IT security solutions. The results of the AV-TEST Institute represent an exclusive information base and serve manufacturers for product optimization, specialist magazines for the publication of results and end customers for orientation in product selection.
The company AV-TEST has been operating in Magdeburg since 2004 and employs more than 30 people with profound specialist and practical experience. The laboratories are equipped with 300 client and server systems in which more than 2.500 terabytes of self-determined test data of harmful and harmless information are stored and processed. Further information can be found at https://www.av-test.org.