Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Kaspersky Inks a Deal With Qualcomm To Improve Android Security

Posted by samzenpus on from the on-the-dotted-line dept.

First time accepted submitter llebeel writes "Kaspersky Lab has signed an agreement with chip designer Qualcomm to improve security at 'the lower level' of a smartphone's mobile operating system. The Russian security firm told The Inquirer that it has agreed to offer 'special terms' for preloading Kaspersky Mobile Security and Kaspersky Tablet Security products on Android devices powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon processors."

13 of 56 comments (clear)

  1. Comment by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Poop

    1. Re:Comment by c · · Score: 4, Funny

      Poop

      A one-word first post from an Anonymous Coward which accurately and completely describes my feelings about the whole deal.

      They must be ice skating in Hell today, I tell you...

      --
      Log in or piss off.
  2. Same unenviable fate as windows by anthony_greer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This seems like a bad thing - I don't really trust any of the AV companies after 20 years of experience on Windows OEM AV crap...Is android doomed to the same bundled security crapware that plauges off the shelf Windows PCs in the retail channel?

    Give it 12 months from the launch of this and you will have Norton/Mcafee trial crap on every android device when Asus/Samsung/Whoever figure out that there is money on the table...

    1. Re:Same unenviable fate as windows by Krojack · · Score: 2

      Only you won't be able to uninstall this trial crap. It will be force upon you just like all this bloatware apps that you never use.

    2. Re:Same unenviable fate as windows by Inda · · Score: 2

      Not always so.

      Samsung's Vlingo on the S2 was a pig. Always popping up when you wanted to return to the home page. No option to remove. Arrghhhh, and all that.

      "You need to root" was the mantra from the crowd. "Root, root, root!".

      Using a 3rd party app were actually easier.

      For those who want to know how:

      1. Install Go Launcher
      2. Use Go Launcher to unistall the Vlingo app.
      3. Uninstall Go Laucher.

      --
      This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
    3. Re:Same unenviable fate as windows by tepples · · Score: 2

      To remove system applications, all you need is superuser access (aka root): that avoids stupid people from removing their launcher or phone applications.

      The problem comes when manufacturers and carriers mark applications provided by "marketing partners" as system applications.

    4. Re:Same unenviable fate as windows by MrMickS · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This seems like a bad thing - I don't really trust any of the AV companies after 20 years of experience on Windows OEM AV crap...Is android doomed to the same bundled security crapware that plauges off the shelf Windows PCs in the retail channel?

      Give it 12 months from the launch of this and you will have Norton/Mcafee trial crap on every android device when Asus/Samsung/Whoever figure out that there is money on the table...

      Android is doomed to this for the same reason Windows was. Its too easy to install programs from anywhere.

      Now, before I get shouted down let me explain a little.

      Having open systems where we can install whatever we like is good. It does however come with at a price. That price is that in order that this isn't exploited the user has to have sufficient knowledge to be able to evaluate the decisions they make regarding installing software. These days that's more than just whether to install the software but what level of access to give it. E.g. does that drawing program really need access to my contacts? Sadly the people capable of making these decisions is a subset of those people that buy the systems. Its also a subset of those people that believe that they are capable of making these decisions. The outcome of this is that systems become infected.

      Currently the only protection we have against infected systems are AV suites. These are, not to put too fine a point on it, crap. Yes, they do the job that they are asked to but in a reactive manner and in such a way as to consume resource, valuable resource in the case of mobile devices.

      The alternative is some sort of trust based vetting of software; Apple does this with their approvals system for their app store, Google does it retrospectively with Play. They are different approaches to the same issue but have their own drawbacks.

      So there are your choices; keep the AV, or surrender the ability for the general public to load software from any source onto their devices. Which is it to be?

      --
      You may think me a tired, old, cynic. I'd have to disagree about the tired bit.
  3. Yep, that's how to improve "low-level" security... by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Let's just pile on more software.

    I understand the concept of layered security, but I'm not convinced, especially not when things are bundled like this -- instead of serving as an independent layer, it seems like it'll just make a bigger attack surface.

  4. Not good by stewsters · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This is something that should be fixed lower down. Phones need to be easy to upgrade to the newest version. Having a band-aid that has root privileges is a bad idea, especially when your phone doesn't have the battery to keep scanning 24/7.

  5. Re:Yep, that's how to improve "low-level" security by poetmatt · · Score: 2

    hey, at least the performance and battery life degradation is free! /s

    just wait until this software is preinstalled on new phones from the MFR, cannot be disabled, or is put into hardware.

    I'd give it a year.

  6. So, how much do you trust the Russian govt. with y by wisebabo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    While I'm sure that Mr. Kaspersky is a trustworthy, ethical person and that his staff adhere to the highest of professional standards, the fact remains that Kaspersky is based in Russia and therefore most of its assets (and employees!) are subject to the whims of the Russian government.

    And yes, I do mean "whims". I'm sure that close observers of Russia will agree that the rule of law does not apply when strategic interests (defined as whatever interests Putin) are at stake. While the United States by comparison, is hardly an angel in that regard it cannot be compared to a government that throws Billionaires in prison on trumped up charges and assassinates its own agents overseas (with Polonium no less) who cross it. Ethics and professional standards would/should crumble when your life or the lives or your family members are at stake.

    So should Kaspersky be allowed to make changes (at the chip level!) I would hope that at the very least it can be shown that it does not give the Russian govt. a back door into the platform. (For the same reason I would be very reluctant to use a home grown Chinese OS on a smartphone.)

  7. Re:So, how much do you trust the Russian govt. wit by FilatovEV · · Score: 2

    You made a number of points. Let me strike a line across them to assuage your concerns.

    After the fall of the Soviet Union a lot of Russia's state-owned resource-driven economy was privatized. It was a very murky process, in the result of which a few people grabbed huge industrial assets while paying a tiny fraction of the price. One of them is Khodorkovsky.

    After Putin was elected in 2000, he has taken measures to curb the influence of the said oligarchs. That resulted in a lot of complaints about the rule of law (and selectivity of its use) in Russia from the Russian liberals and Western states.

    The Western media maintain that the only cure to the situation in Russia is the respect for the rule of law (and down with Putin btw).

    However, that's a mistake, and as a slashdotter, you should see why. The mistake is that the privatization of 90s and partial re-nationalization of 2000s of the natural-resource-extraction-driven economy is prone to generate conflicts of interests between powerful figures. The conflict will persist until the economy itself will not change. (Why not to privatize everything and end the story? Okey, let's do it; then there are the Communists who would be happy to make a law to nationalize the said assets: then it would be legal!)

    The Kaspersky lab is a good example of the new type of the economy, which is not based on gaining control over Soviet-era industrial assets. If more of the Russian economy was like that, there would be less space for the conflict between oligarchs and the authorities.

    While I understand your concerns about the rule of law in Russia, you should understand too, that supporting Russian companies such as Kaspersky lab will indirectly strengthen the rule of law in Russia.

    What you should be primarily concerned with as a slashdotter is whether they are making better (and cheaper) software than other AV companies or not. Hope this helps.

  8. Android 4.2 has antivirus by tepples · · Score: 2

    Since Android 4.2, Google has been including antivirus with Android.