Two-thirds of Android antivirus scanners ineffective: Report

New research reveals that nearly two-thirds of antivirus apps for the Android platform are ineffective.

The AVTest report identified that only seven of the 41 antivirus scanners available were able to identify more than 90% of the 618 types of Android malware tested. The seven apps that passed the test were Avast, Dr. Web, F-Secure, Ikarus, Kaspersky, Zoner and Lookout.

A further 10 scanners (including Symantec, AVG, Trend Micro, and AegisLab) were able to pick up between 65% and 90% of the threats. The remaining scanners (including McAfee) tested found less than two-thirds of the malware tested, with six scanners not identifying any of the threats.

The growing popularity of the Android platform for mobile devices has led to a proliferation of malware, with one recent example infecting over five million devices.