Android antivirus products a big flop, researchers say

Android smartphones and tablets are under attack, and the most popular tools developed to protect them are easily circumvented, according to new research from Northwestern University and the University of North Carolina.

The researchers created technology called DroidChamelon that can be used to perform common obfuscation techniques (simple switches in a virus’ binary code or file name, for instance) to blow by security products. It tested DroidChamelon with products from the likes of AVG, Kaspersky, ESET, Symantec and Webroot.