Dr Web was a new name to us, but its high lab rating shows it really should be considered. The app lists fewer items than some here in its requirements of what it needs to check on your device. Even so, it proved more than adept at spotting malware from almost every 'family' attempting to gain access to Android devices. See also Top ten Android apps.
In all but 7 of the 19 malware families included in the AV-Test procedure, Dr Web scored above 90 percent, while the remainder were in the creditable 65 to 90 percent segment. Exploit.Lotoor - a piece of malware that attempts to gain access to the root of an Android device and embeds itself on the device after a user unwittingly downloads it - was the notable weak point. Visit all Security Software review.
Unfortunately, you won't discern how effective Dr Web is from its interface. Even while you scan through the security messages relating to what it accesses, a worrying orange bar behind the EULA window shows that all is not well. See also: Group test: what's the best Android antivirus?
This turns out to relate to the automatic monitoring service that Dr Web offers. Clicking the orange bar has no effect. In fact, you need to click the Off/On radio button to the far right of the next option down - SpIDer Guard [note to production: deliberate random upper-case]. The screen then turns a virulent combination of green - to signal protection is now active - and turquoise.
Next down is the scanner. Quick Scan merely looks at apps you've installed, while Full Scan checks everything including removable media; it took 1 min 46 sec to complete an audit of 7276 files on our tablet. There's also a custom scan for checking specific items.
The Statistics list provides a much-needed overview of events and how recently the virus definition database was updated. The separate Update menu doesn't actually prompt you to manually check for these, but does darkly warn you it hasn't been done. Should anything suspect be detected, it will be listed in both the Statistics list as threats detected and the Quarantine folder at the bottom of the main menu page.
Comments