What exploitable vulnerabilities does the Droid have?

[Inphosys]

Hey there Android Folks!

In this thread ... http://androidforums.com/motorola-droid/32113-phone-restarts-automatically.html ... the topic of Antivirus software for Droid was brought up.

I'm a long time BlackBerry and Windows Mobile device user and I support thousands of mobile devices in the field every day. From my experience, antivirus software on mobile devices tends to be very bulky and restrictive. It slows the device down because it is always running in the background and prohibits the user from performing functions that would sometimes be an everyday occurrence. Therefore when weighing the cost versus the benefits I have always decided not to employ a mobile antivirus solution. I do realize that all devices have vulnerabilities and even some devices have had specific viruses written for the platform but I have always found these risks to be very small (low incidence of occurrence) or easily mitigated by using other techniques.


Which leads me to pose these questions to the Android community:
- What exploitable vulnerabilities does the Droid have? (or Android in general)
- Have any viruses been written specifically for Android?
- Do you think a mobile antivirus solution is necessary for Android?
- Do you utilize a mobile antivirus solution for your Android?
-- If so, which one?
-- And what is the cost of performance and user experience versus the benefits provided by your specific mobile antivirus solution?

Please provide your input on any or all of the above points. I would really like to get a good idea about the safety of the Android platform.


Best regards,
Brad

 

[iPhone2Droid]

Short answer: I read Android-related news daily, via gReader, along with other mobile-related & tech info. And, redundant backups, in multiple locations, is standard for me, including the Droid. If and when a harmful virus hits, I'll be made aware. Until that time, I will continue to absolutely ignore anti-virus apps.