ANTI VIRUS DOESN'T WORK ON ANDROID PHONES??????????

I have a free AV on my Desire HD, but have just read this report on PC Advisor:

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/security/3317542/free-android-antivirus-doesnt-work/?cmpid=HTML-N141111&olo=newsletter

So, uh, free AVs don't work on Android???

If that's the case, then recommendations for something that WILL work would be appreciated -- thanks, gang!

But most important - I don't think you need anti virus on android (yet!)

Thanks, gang. I did wonder about the integrity of that 'research' myself. Anyway. . . I already have AVG Free installed so will quit worrying. . . Thanks for the reassurance though, much appreciated.

ZVG? I don't even see it listed in the market. 

And even from the market you can get malware. I know a few moths ago it was reported of at least 40 apps that made its way onto the market that contained malware.  Best advice is to know what you install.  Read the reviews.

Zoner Antivrus Free was actually the best performing freeware in the AV-Test survey. It found 3 in every 10 malicious apps. It missed 7 in every 10 malicious apps. This was considered to be better than the other freeware apps on test, which appear to have found only 1 in every 10 malicious apps and missed the other 9.

I know Zoner is currently trumpeting its success as the highest-ranked free AV but a 70% failure rate is nothing to crow about (which may explain why Zoner doesn't actually mention specific figures.)

That said, I'm grateful to earlier posters here who pointed out that this much-publicised AV-Test survey is, in fact, a bunch of crap, seeing as how it excluded freeware from major developers like AVG.

Considering that the number of nasties out there in the Android world is a tiny, tiny fraction of the total in Windows Land -- and that the exercise of commonsense in choosing any Market app is still the best AV of all -- then it would seem that physical security in the form of dependable remote locate / swipe / lock / brick is the most essential app of all on an Android phone or tablet.

I'm looking forward to PCA's comparison  test of the new £29 Norton security suite with freeware like AVG's Mobilation -- the very product AV-Test should've looked at but conspicuously failed to bother with.

AVG Mobilation details here:

http://www.avg.com/us-en/antivirus-for-android

 

And a slightly different but much more informative report and review of most of the security apps on the market:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/11/28/mobile-security-app-shootout-final-roundup-out-of-a-sea-of-apps-just-one-emerges-as-a-clear-winner-in-keeping-your-device-safe/

The link is to the final review and conclusions of the author - however you can quite easily go from this report to the all the apps he tested (approx 17 reviewed).

Their review does exclude Theft Aware as it was in the process of being bought, however they plan to review it shortly.
Some of the apps have had significant changes since being reviewed, so it a good idea to probably check most of them out yourself, but it at least gives a good place to start.

Do we need this - not really as Sense does have some of these features and works well, and I personally don't think a virus/malware detector is essential at this stage as long as you are sensible while installing from the market.
If you have rooted and are using a custom rom, I would suggest using one of the security apps to at least replace what you have lost with sense - these phones are expensive and its nice to know that if you lose it somewhere, at least the security software might give you a chance of getting it back.

Part of the reason why I like using an alternative lock screen like Widget Locker as it gives me the ability to put a message on the lockscreen with an alternative number so anyone finding my phone has the ability to return it for a reward... (which I think is slightly more likely now due to it not being the latest piece of kit).

But android is not safe from spyware and malware.So it is better to be equipped with right tools in advance.