Is Electrum for Android really safe?

[Aveatrex]

Hello,
My question is pretty much how safe is Electrum for Android? We all know that Android is vulnerable to viruses especially that 90% of users don't use any anti-virus on their phones.At least when using Electrum on windows,the majority of users use an anti-virus ( or Windows defender by default) so they are less vulnerable to hacks than phone users.
What do you think?

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[TryNinja]

TLDR: It's safe if you know how to secure your device (don't download random apks, don't give root permission to apps, don't let anyone get physical access to your device.

I honestly think that it doesn't matter if you want to hold your coins on your phone or computer. Both are secure enough if you know how to secure your device.

It's actually pretty simple to have standard security for your devices.

PC = Use anti-virus, don't download everything from the internet. Better if you just hold your coins in an offline cold-storage wallet.
Android = Don't root your phone. If you do, don't download random apks from the internet and don't give them root permission.

If you want to hold multiple coins other than Bitcoin, use Exodus for PC or Coinomi for Android.

x-post from an older post of mine.

I also think that using an antivirus on your phone is useless.

[Aveatrex]

TLDR: It's safe if you know how to secure your device (don't download random apks, don't give root permission to apps, don't let anyone get physical access to your device.

I honestly think that it doesn't matter if you want to hold your coins on your phone or computer. Both are secure enough if you know how to secure your device.

It's actually pretty simple to have standard security for your devices.

PC = Use anti-virus, don't download everything from the internet. Better if you just hold your coins in an offline cold-storage wallet.
Android = Don't root your phone. If you do, don't download random apks from the internet and don't give them root permission.

If you want to hold multiple coins other than Bitcoin, use Exodus for PC or Coinomi for Android.

x-post from an older post of mine.

I also think that using an antivirus on your phone is useless.

Why an anti-virus on phones is useless? Even without root you are still exposed to risks like malicious ads,infected apks and keyloggers (not necessarily downloaded on the internet)


Edit:I also noticed that passwords on Electrum for Android is just a "pin" and not really a password where you can use caracters and symbols.That's also a downside in my opinion.

[TryNinja]

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Is antivirus software necessary for Android?

[Lucius]

I think that Electrum on Android is less safe then on other OS, just because most users of Android do not pay attention on their phone security. When you read article TryNinja posted, it becomes clear to us why people think like this, when Android security chief say no to antivirus, what should average user think?

If we talk about today's devices, smart phones and tablets then argument that AV will slow down device and take some storage memory is nonsense, today devices are so powerful in terms of CPU and RAM that such program does not affect the operation of device. I personally have AV on my smartphone, but so far did not try Electrum Android. In my opinion it should be used for smaller amounts of coins.

[bob123]

TLDR: It's safe if you know how to secure your device (don't download random apks, don't give root permission to apps, don't let anyone get physical access to your device.

Sometimes updating your mobile won't even install the necessary security updates (which are needed since vulnerabilities already have been disclosed).
Researcher have found out that quite a lot manufacturers do skip between 1 to 6 android security updates while displaying the most up-to-date version.

I'd say a proper desktop system can be way more secure than a mobile. You have a lot more control over a desktop system.
Both does of course require a user who is willing to set it up properly.

[Aveatrex]

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Interesting facts.So yeah I'm  not convinced by Android wallets being secure.And as I said:

Edit:I also noticed that passwords on Electrum for Android is just a "pin" and not really a password where you can use caracters and symbols.That's also a downside in my opinion.

It still boggles my mind why there is only pin and not a password option to make hard ones with symbols hard to guess.I think this shouldn't be ignored and have to be changed in future versions

[Strufmbae]

If the virus affects the electrum wallet android application then it is not safe it can cause bug or malfunction but i guess you should address what kind of virus are you trying to say. Antivirus is not optional, because with or without having antivirus all smartphones are vulnerable to hacks and virus,  make your informations fully encrypted for future restoration if needed.

[pooya87]

If the virus affects the electrum wallet android application then it is not safe it can cause bug or malfunction but i guess you should address what kind of virus are you trying to say. Antivirus is not optional, because with or without having antivirus all smartphones are vulnerable to hacks and virus,  make your informations fully encrypted for future restoration if needed.

virus and malware aside you shouldn't even be storing large amounts of funds on something that is portable and can be lost, damaged, physically stolen! storing all your funds on your phone is like carrying all your life savings in your back pocket instead of leaving it at home in a bank account,...
cold storage exists for these things. a phone should only be used for funds that you need to carry with yourself like pocket money.