Author Topic: Hide anti-virus when lost  (Read 3896 times)

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raptortech97

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Hide anti-virus when lost
« on: March 27, 2012, 12:41:45 AM »
Firstly, I would like to say that I really love avast! Mobile, and I use both the anti-virus and anti-theft portions of the software. I understand that in order to work properly, the anti-virus needs to be very prominent and visible, as it's goal is to warn the user before doing something dangerous. Anti-theft, of course, needs to be stealthy and hidden in order to prevent detection or removal.

It is troubling, however, that a thief can easily detect the anti-virus, and may realize that the anti-theft is also installed. From the owner's point of view, one way to fix this is to uninstall the anti-virus. From what I have read, the anti-theft will still work, but no thief can detect that any avast components are installed without serious effort.

The solution I propose is that when the anti-theft detects the phone is stolen, it hides the anti-virus. When stolen, the user does not need the anti-virus to be working, so it is acceptable for it to be hidden. I am not sure, however, whether or not that is technically feasible. If it is not, it may be wiser to uninstall the anti-virus when the owner declares the phone lost. It may be wiser to add it as a separate command, like so:
Code: [Select]
2222 REMOVE ANTIVIRUS
Is this feasible? Is it wise? Please respond.

reinhardholzner

  • Guest
Re: Hide anti-virus when lost
« Reply #1 on: March 27, 2012, 10:58:24 AM »
apps can not uninstall other apps :-(

Offline Lisandro

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Re: Hide anti-virus when lost
« Reply #2 on: March 27, 2012, 03:55:53 PM »
apps can not uninstall other apps :-(
Well, some do it when rooted :)
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raptortech97

  • Guest
Re: Hide anti-virus when lost
« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2012, 01:37:54 AM »
apps can not uninstall other apps :-(

What about doing a bit to hide it, similarly to the way Anti-Theft works? You could turn off scanning and notifications and the constant notification bar thing (the one that says, "Avast! Mobile Security  / avast! is protecting you..."). You might even be able to hide the icon, similar to how you always hide the Anti-Theft icon.

Offline Lisandro

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Re: Hide anti-virus when lost
« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2012, 02:37:24 PM »
What about doing a bit to hide it, similarly to the way Anti-Theft works? You could turn off scanning and notifications and the constant notification bar thing (the one that says, "Avast! Mobile Security  / avast! is protecting you..."). You might even be able to hide the icon, similar to how you always hide the Anti-Theft icon.
Afaik, two reasons:
1. Technical one: some features (like Web Shield) requires the icon to be on due to Android architecture.
2. Marketing one: brand recognition ;)
The best things in life are free.