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Malwarebytes for Android Kills Malware, Protects Your Privacy Too


Android: Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a great tool for removing trojans, worms, and other malware from your Windows computer, but now it's made the jump to Android. It still offers robust malware protection, but it goes further to protect your privacy from apps with overreaching permissions or other vulnerabilities.

As always, Malwarebytes is free, and while it definitely scans for known Android malware and can remove it (and even lets you schedule proactive and regular scans), it does much more than that. The app will also scan your existing apps for malicious code, and packs a privacy manager that lays out the types of permissions an Android app can ask for, and then shows you which apps have access to that data. Want to know how many apps can access your calendar, or how many can get at your text messages? The privacy manager can show you.

Malwarebytes for Android also packs a security audit tool that gives you a top-down look at whether you're doing everything you can to stay safe. It'll check whether you have Google's Find My Phone feature turned on, whether you have any security features on your device turned off (like installing from unknown sources or development mode enabled), and so on. Of course, many of those security features also stop you from sideloading or using apps you may like, but at least you'll have a full picture of your device's security.

Hit the link below to grab Malwarebytes from Google Play. We've discussed Android security in detail before, and Malwarebytes definitely falls into the "security tools that also do other useful things" category, so even if you're not at risk for malware, some of its other features may be useful.

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware (Free) | Google Play