Just yesterday I was having a conversation with a security guard, and as soon as I mentioned Android, he said, "Do you know there are places you can go on the Internet where all the paid apps are free? And I sadly replied, "Yes. But do you think the people that offer these paid apps for free do it because they just think everyone should get free apps? Or do you think it is more likely they alter it, and then give it to you for free so they can steal information from your phone?" "Huh." was all he could say.
The above conversation is taken directly from a post on antiviruses I made almost three years ago, and unfortunately the risk of getting your phone or tablet hacked has not decreased much despite several improvements Google has made to the Android operating system.
It's still important to have an antivirus installed on your phone or tablet even if you only install apps directly from Google Play, which is a good first step to avoid getting hacked by an app infected with malware. Fortunately, there still are some very good solutions, some which are free, and the two we still recommend are still excellent and free.
Recommended Antivirus Apps
Bitdefender Antivirus Free, VirusTotal
Bitdefender Antivirus Free has the same antivirus protection as their Bitdefender Mobile Security & Antivirus, but without all the extras. The reason we really like Bitdefender Antivirus Free is because of how lightweight it is, and because of how few permissions it needs compared to the other name brand antiviruses. It uses definitions in the cloud, so you need Internet access to run a scan, but it also scans much faster than the others in our opinion. It also has options to scan storage, and to automatically scan all new apps, and that's about it. But if you want something lightweight and simple that isn't going to slow down your tablet or phone, this is it.
From AndroidAuthority...
15 best antivirus Android apps and anti-malware Android apps
"Bitdefender Antivirus Free is perhaps the lightest, most unobtrusive option on this list. It has exactly two features which is to scan and clean your device and then it offers real-time antivirus protection on top of that. The real-time protection scans apps as they are installed and also keeps an eye on what they are doing. The scanning is simple and only takes a few moments to get everything done. This is technically an offshoot of Bitdefender’s much larger antivirus suite, but we found that we loved that there is an option that requires zero configuration and runs as light as this one does."
A great backup antivirus app that also is totally free is VirusTotal. VirusTotal checks the applications installed in your device against VirusTotal (http://www.virustotal.com).
It will inform you about malware (virus, trojans, worms) on your phone by having your applications scanned by more than 40 antiviruses, flagging any undesired content. Please note that VirusTotal for Android does not provide real-time protection and, so, is not a substitute for any antivirus product, just a second opinion regarding your apps.
IMPORTANT - Be sure to download only the original VirusTotal and not others with VirusTotal in the name, as the others not created by VIRUSTOTAL have added permissions that allow the copycat apps to find accounts on your device, read your contacts and read your device's usb storage.
If you would like a more complete antivirus solution, check out the following link....
The best antivirus software for Android by AVTest
Some of the antiviruses listed that offered 100% protection at the link above which also have been around for awhile and have developed good reputations are Bitdefender Mobile Security 3.2, ESET Mobile Security & Antivirus 3.2, G Data Internet Security 25.9, Kaspersky Lab Internet Security 11.9 and Norton Norton Mobile Security 3.13. Any of them would be excellent choices. It's interesting to note that Lookout Security & Antivirus 9.33 which used to be excellent, seems to have fallen down recently with only a 77.3% detection of the latest Android malware discovered in the previous 4 weeks.
But again, we see nothing almost three years later to change our minds about still highly recommending Bitdefender Antivirus Free and VirusTotal as the best free and lightweight antivirus solutions for Android.
