Hello, I own a Sony Xperia mini pro. I am happy with the mobile. Compact, ease of use. However, I am really concerned about the data security of the mobile. This concerns all manufacturers that use Android as their OS platform,nevertheless, as I have a Sony model, I pose the following question/discussion for Sony. Several years ago, Android was not target of too many viruses or hack attacks. Hackers focused on more widespread used OS like Windows and other. However, this has changed in the last years and changed a lot for the worse. Black Hat people are more and more interested into exploiting Android's vulnerabilities. While there are people still living in the Fantasy Island and recommending not using Anti-Virus in Android based mobiles, the truth is reported by respected Anti-Virus company Kaspersky: "Malware Levels for Google's OS Rise Threefold in Q2 2012" and this applies to Android viruses and Trojans that can infect mobiles via email and SMS. If Kaspersky detected only 936 such Android malware in 2011, in 2012 there are 14,000 (fourteen thousand!) Android malware putting into risk personal data, credit card and bank information. This represents a serious threat to all Android users, including those that purchase Sony mobiles like me. source: http://www.kaspersky.com/about/news/press/2012/Android_Under_Attack__Malware_Levels_for_Googles_OS_R... Serious companies like Comodo, Kaspersky, ESET, Avast and other are working hard and providing us Android users with good quality Android Anti-Virus software and we users should keep an eye at least every year to the prestigious AV Test company that publishes their anti-virus tests for all major applications here http://www.av-test.org/en/tests/mobile-devices/android/ However, concerning Android firewal, there is an amazing - if not to say irresponsible - offer for android users. Most mobile firewalls developed by recognized companies like Comodo and other, can be used only if the mobile is rooted. My mobile - and the mobile of tens of millions of Android users - is not rooted. This will void the warranty, etc. Therefore, I look for non-root firewalls. One of them seems to be good and has a couple thousands of positive ratings in Google Play. An article by a recognized magazine recommends using this non-root firewall. I visit the app website. Looks like an amateurish blog with the worst design. I search for contact information: there is none. NONE. Not an email, a phone, a fax, nothing. I look in the Internet for the developer: two mentions in the search and I see where he is based. He has a blog, I visit his blog, there is nothing, not a contact email, profile is void and there is only a small 100x100 pixels bad quality picture that does not even let me know what the guy looks like. This is the best firewall recommended by some article in a recognized magazine. Now, to root my phone will turn warranty void by Sony. I cannot then use a safe Firewall like Comodo and other. Not to root it, exposes me to install God knows what kind of app into my mobile and perhaps compromise its security by using an app that grants me I will be protected. I wonder when global manufacturers like Sony will do their part to work together with major Firewall developers to us - Sony customers - will have our data protected with state of the art Firewalls. Guys: Android malware has jumped from 936 only two years ago to 14,000 this year. Make your projections for 2014. As I stated before, this applies to all Android users, but as I am a Sony customer, I look forward to Sony's reply. Sony: when do you plan to start working together with respected Firewall developers and Android Google to protect us your customers from this huge threat. rgs.
