Do I need an anti-virus?

[920Walker]

Can an app in the store require permissions that are not listed?

 

[Saijin_Naib]

If the permissions system is designed even half-way correctly, no. However, my experience lies with FireFoxOS, but I assume that WP/W10M is designed at least as well in this regard.

Hopefully a WP/W10M developer will chime in.

 

[a5cent]

Can an app in the store require permissions that are not listed?

A permission may be required that is not listed, which would result in an error when the app attempts to access that functionality.

However, it is accurate to say that no feature can be accessed for which permissions are not listed.

 

[hprvez]

It is as vulnerable as windows10, that means it is secure as long as YOU don't install malwares

 

[a5cent]

It is as vulnerable as windows10, that means it is secure as long as YOU don't install malwares

This statement is entirely untrue and couldn't be further from the truth. If it were true, we'd have at least Microsoft Windows Defender running on our phones. We don't.

 

[Christopher Kendalls]

False.

1. iOS is based, at its core, on Unix. (Linux is based on Unix)

2. Linux is not inherently insecure or vulnerable to virii as you claim. (Heck, an anti-virus on Ubuntu isn't a necessary thing. If anything, to protect Windows PCs.)

I'm sure someone more knowledgeable will be along shortly...

OS X and iOS are both based off of Unix. And Android is a distribution of Linux, but it is handled in an entirely different manner than Linux on the desktop is. The Chromebook is the exact same way. The confusion a lot of people have is because Superuser privileges are hidden/disabled on smartphones. You can always root, or jailbreak phones, to force you to get them to do what you want them to do, but the average person would never do this. Applications do not have those same privileges granted to them on smartphones as they do with a desktop computer.

Sandboxing has a lot to do with it, but all that really means is that devices/machines are patched in hopes that they do not become vulnerable. If a user never installs the security updates they're just as vulnerable as anyone else if some rouge software is able to find a vulnerability in the machine. Android's issue is that people are actively encouraged to download APK files outside of the app store, which either have viruses/malware or are vulnerable, or they're encouraged to root because it is the only way to get rid of apps that ship with the device. Windows Phone and iOS allow you to remove apps without root. Neither come with as many system apps as Android.

With Linux the same thing can happen if you install repositories you know nothing of just to get software that does not exist in the app store. If you are using a Live CD/DVD, I would still replace it with a fresh copy of the latest and greatest; even though chances are you won't have to worry about it because you are starting off clean every time you boot up your computer that doesn't mean that something could not happen within the limited amount of time your computer is on. It is generally best to just stick with whatever software is available for download through the software center; as it is analogous to going outside of Google Play to download APK files. Windows 10 will eventually perfect this mode of delivery with Universal Apps, and we can enjoy being "sandboxed" on our PCs. The end game is to advance apps in the store to the point where EXE files are no longer necessary, or desired, but as with all things Microsoft is struggling to make that a reality.

Finally, factor in the cloud and distributed computing and everyone will be sandboxed, all of the time. This will probably be the case within another 5 years. Another 10 years, you turn it on and it just works, no viruses it will be a distant memory. Won't matter which device you have they'll all be at the same speed; the differences so small, so minute, they're imperceptible to the average person.