Most antivirus apps do absolutely nothing, research finds

Two thirds of Android antivirus apps that appear in the Google Play store provide no protection for devices, tests have revealed.

Researchers at the Austrian antivirus testing firm AV-Comparatives analysed 250 apps claiming to offer security for Android smartphones and tablets.

Their results found that less than a third of them managed to detect even 30 per cent of the malicious apps released in 2018, while 80 of the apps tested failed to meet the firm's most basic requirements for cyber security.

"Some of the Android security products in our test blocked so few of the malware samples – in some cases literally none – that they cannot reasonably be described as anti-malware apps," stated a report of the findings.

The tests found that some apps in the Google Play store were so ineffective that they detected themselves as malware.

Cyber security experts have consistently warned of the dangers posed by apps claiming to offer protection, with Android malware researcher Lukas Stefanko recently highlighting a slew of fraudulent apps with close to one million downloads.

Despite the poor performance of the majority of apps tested in the latest study, the researchers said most of the 250 Android apps had a review score of four or higher on the Google Play store.

The researchers gave advice to Android users hoping to install an effective antivirus app for their device, urging them to be cautious about Google Play reviews and downloads.

"Using user ratings is clearly not effective, as the vast majority of users will give their rating based solely on the user experience, without having any idea as to whether the app offers effective protection. Some other reviews will have been faked by developers," they wrote.

"Similarly, the number of downloads can only be a very rough guide; a successful scam app may be downloaded many times before it is found to be a scam.

"Because of this, we recommend using only apps of well-known, verified and reputable vendors."

Those apps that did perform well in tests included well-established brands like Avast, AVG, F-Secure, Kaspersky and McAfee.