A little intro:
I have spent a lot of time with malware on windows and which apps/settings can actually protect you. By working with malware you also get a lot of background info on how people / companies / governments can steal your privacy from you and how to protect yourself against it. When I decided to care about all that I noticed that a lot of "security forum experts for PCs" have no clue about Android and its risks although probably the same if not more data is stored on our phones than on our PCs. So I decided to do some background searched, worked with Android malware and played around with the different ways and options that can protect your security & privacy.
When I am looking for a
security setup then I want one that is
reliable & easy-to-work-with but also
lightweight on the system. I don't want my security setup to cripple down my system.
I have done similar guide for Windows and as I haven't seen anything like them for Android I thought I would give it a little go.
What can you do to protect your security & privacy:
Security - Firewall: To block incoming / outcoming traffic per app or per IP/DNS/Port. Can drain the battery and be a pain to configure on Android.
Security - Antivirus: To scan files
after they have been downloaded or to scan files
after they have been installed. Due to how Android is coded it is not possible to scan in real-time (while downloading, while installing) which means you can't detect malware based on their behavior. AV's on Android can only detect malware by their signature which is easy to bypass. However is still better than nothing and a one-time scan of downloaded files or an on-demand scan while your phone is charging won't hurt your battery or slow down the device. A lot of AV-Products come with multiple features built in. Some of them are often useless (e.g. maybe anti-theft), others are worth the usage (e.g. security audits for non-fixed exploit vulnerabilities or bad system settings e.g. USB-Debugging enabled).
Security - SuperSU: To actively manage which apps will get "unlimited" root access.
Security & Privacy - DNS: Change the DNS-Server you use to something like NortonDNS which will protect you from malware/phishing sites as well as semi-bypass the tracking of browsing behavior by your phone/internet provider.
Security & Privacy - VPN: An easy way for attackers in your network (especially open & free wifi's) to steal data from you are MITM (Man In The Middle) attacks. They can modify SSL certificates which means even using HTTPS might not always be safe or simply read your network activity (including logins which includes accounts + password). By using a VPN all the traffic that leaves your device will be encrypted and routed directly to a safe receiver which means no one can interrupt your traffic and sniffs (read) it.
Security & Privacy - SSH-Tunnel: Using an SSH-Tunnel has pretty much the same effect as using a VPN but the difference is you have to configure each app that you want to use the SSH-Tunnel. I prefer this method on Windows as I can encrypt only the traffic of my browser/mail/communicator while playing games or other apps will use the non-encrypted (and often faster) internet connection. Sadly there is no app on Android that in my opinion works flawlessly as SSH-Tunnel client.
Security & Privacy - Adblockers: We all know adblockers. They block ads to protect your privacy by blocking trackers and some of them (e.g. mdl-malwaredomainlist) also protect you from malware & phishing websites.
Privacy - App Ops: App Ops or similar apps let you block permissions per app which means whatever app is installed / running can be forced to not use specific permissions. E.g. you can block Facebook from using your GPS and tracking your location.
Privacy - Android 5.x disable allowed certificates: Every website and every (good) app will have a certificated that Android and also AV's check online to see if the website/app is trustworthy. Out-of-the-box Android allows many questionable certificates from governments and companies that might sell their certificates to websites/app that are not so trustworthy. Since Android 5.x you can remove/add certificates to disallow governments or companies that sell their certificates to questionable websites/apps.
Privacy - Encrypt your phone: by encrypting your phone you ensure that no one finding your phone will be easily able to read anything saved on your phone. Not even by entering the recovery mode. It may slow down the performance a bit and increase battery drain slightly, but for me (Nexus 6) I had no troubles so far.
You can make that list longer by using only secure apps for communication (e.g. encrypted chats with Telegrams or using Firefox and add-ons such as HTTPS-Everywhere) but I think that is more advanced and takes away the freedom and choice of readers/users. So I will stop here as I think I have covered the basics and most important things.
Which setup should you choose?
Well first of all I recommend using only apps/services of companies that you can trust. E.g. companies that exist for a long time but haven’t done any questionable actions in the past. I have been a long-time-user of Comodo but looking at what Comodo has allowed itself in the past made me choose something different. On Android a good example are sms/call blockers. There are many one for example one is produces by a company named "NQ Security". Now do your google work and you will find some details that either makes you think of this company as trustworthy or not. Or maybe there are other companies with the same product which you would rather trust?
One thing to notice is that in the end your setup should cover most if not all aspects that I have mentioned above. Now you can either choose to use different many different products (e.g. if they are free) or use on paid solution that covers everything at once. In any case, don't forget about stuff that might get installed but be useless to you. E.g. at some point I found my setup to have 3 different call blockers and 4 different sms blocker installed.
I have made a list of a few picks that I would recommend:Must-Have
SuperSU / Rooted device (
Click for Google play): 99% of all apps & configurations listed here will need your device to be rooted. Also SuperSU gives you a good overview about which apps have root access and is a got tool to configure those apps.
Override DNS (
Click for Google play): It automatically changes the used DNS Server for 2G/3G/4G/WIFI to whatever you want (e.g. NortonDNS). Currently it is the only app that works with Android 5.x.
AdAway (
Click for download link): Lets you block ads, tracking, malware and phishing sites. I recommend the standard sources +
www.malwaredomainlist.com/hostslist/hosts.txtApp Ops (
Click for Google play): App Ops lets you block permissions per app which means whatever app is installed / running can be forced to not use specific permissions. E.g. you can block Facebook from using your GPS and tracking your location.
GSP - Good Security Practice (Recommendations)
Disable untrusted certificates (Android 5.x) (
Mozilla Firefox list of allowed certificates): Use a source you trust and check what certificates they usually allow in their software (e.g. Mozilla Firefox). Then check that with what is enabled in your Android's security settings and disable whatever android has enabled but e.g. Mozilla Firefox doesn't.
Encrypt your phone: Enable encryption of your Android device.
Antivirus: You can check AV-Test.org for monthly security review on mobile security products and choose from there. But I recommend either "
Bitdefender Free" for a simple file-scanner of downloaded files and installed apps as well as on-demand scanner or "
ESET Free/Premium" which includes file-scanner, security audit, sms & call blocker as well as phishing protection and even anti-theft if needed. Both companies are in my option very trustworthy and provide good results over the past month/years (not only on the mobile market but also the PC market). Avast is a free option with lots of features from another trustworthy company but I found it to be heavier on my system than Bitdefender or ESET.
VPN if you use public WIFI: I also recommend the use of a VPN from a trustworthy VPN provider. They don't cost too much and improve your security & privacy on public wifi a lot.
Firefox (HTTPS-Everywhere + Adblock Edge) > Chrome: Firefox seems to be the winner in terms of privacy and security. But on my system Chrome is a lot faster than Firefox.
Telegram > WhatsApp: Not only is Telegram free but also provides a lot of nice feature such as the automatic deletion of your account and all its data when it has been inactive for x months. Telegram might also be the better choice as WhatsApp is already part of Facebook.
The bottom line
I tried to give a little overview of what kind of protection is available and what it does. I also added my choice of tools which will provide you with protection. It is up to you to decide whether it is useful in your case (based on your phone-behavior) and if you are willing to pay money for it or rather use free services. I will gladly help you with any questions or configuration/setup related things. Please let me know if you have any suggestion or corrections so that I can improve this thread !
Thanks
