

For those concerned about invasive monitoring and digital eavesdropping, this kind of protection is now a must. I installed the mSpy remote device monitoring suite to my Android and sure enough, I received a prompt that the program was running. There are a number of Android keyloggers out there which record users’ every keystroke. I tested this by deliberately installing SMSreg-a PUA that sometimes comes installed with unscrupulous battery optimization apps-and received an immediate prompt to uninstall it. Zemana has a comprehensive definitions list of known PUAs and its detection engine will automatically notify users in the even they’re detected. They frequently inject malware that can slow down or attack users’ systems. PUAs are usually unwanted applications that users sometimes inadvertently install by clicking on deceptive download links or adding components to apps they already have. In addition to antivirus protection, Zemana also includes: Potentially Unwanted Application (PUA) Detection

The application keeps a background process running and generates a continuous notification which displays the current system state. Zemana features real-time protection, so there’s no need to manually initiate scans or set them to run on a schedule. I was also able to instruct the scanner to check pre-installed ROM applications, although this setting was disabled by default. I was able to toggle whether or not I wanted the scan to use mobile data or only when connected to a WiFi network.

All the common malware types-including traditional forms, spyware programs, and trojans-are included in its protection. It also functions quickly: the full scan ran its course in just under three minutes, although it didn’t leave a report about what had been examined. Although the program’s support page claims that the full scan checks “all of the files in the internal storage and the SD card,” this did not appear to be the case.ĭespite the limited nature of the virus scan, the program has received complimentary ratings from testing labs. Malicious downloads or executable files that trick the user into installing them will not be detected by merely scanning the apps that have already been installed. Generally, virus scanners should assess the entire file system. A test APK file that I had sitting in my downloads folder didn’t prompt a notification, although a test trojan program did. The scans browsed through a list of “objects” on my handset-which, even on the full scan setting, appeared to simply be checking all my installed applications-and the difference in speed between them was negligible. Zemana features an antivirus scanner with two modes: fast scan and full scan. The user interface is certainly not intimidating, but it doesn’t rate highly at keeping Android handsets protected from the ever-growing list of cybersecurity threats.

Zemana is from a Turkish antivirus manufacturer and provides a basic antivirus tool for Android.
