

Human: Do you need to have some kind of anti-virus on cell phones like you do computers?

Assistant: There are programs and apps you can install on your phone that will help protect your data, though they won’t stop a virus that has infected your phone from doing what viruses do.  But you’ll also need to install such programs and apps on your computer, and they’ll run all the time, even if you’re not using your phone.


Human: Do you need to have some kind of anti-virus on cell phones like you do computers?

Assistant: The short answer is no.  The majority of cell phones are protected against viruses, and the few cases that do exist are dealt with by the cell phone provider.  However, if a phone does get infected, the risk to your own cell phone and your friends’ phones is that you may pass along some viruses or malware to their phones, or to their computers.
Do you need to have some kind of anti-virus on cell phones like you do computers?
There are programs and apps you can install on your phone that will help protect your data, though they won’t stop a virus that has infected your phone from doing what viruses do.  But you’ll also need to install such programs and apps on your computer, and they’ll run all the time, even if you’re not using your phone.
The short answer is no.  The majority of cell phones are protected against viruses, and the few cases that do exist are dealt with by the cell phone provider.  However, if a phone does get infected, the risk to your own cell phone and your friends’ phones is that you may pass along some viruses or malware to their phones, or to their computers.