Do things that are free give you viruses?

Answer 1

Yes and No.

It depends on millions of factors and there are list of millions of programs that do such things that frankly I dont have time to list.

If you are asking this question, chances are you shouldn't be using the internet at all.

Answer 2

Does Android have viruses (otherwise known as malware)? Everything has viruses, regardless of what Apple fanboys want you to believe. The real questions are: What are the chances of your Android phone being infected? Do you *have* to download anti-virus (also known as anti-malware or mobile security) apps to protect yourself? By and large, the answers - drum roll please - are a) Your risk of infection depends on your downloading habits and b) No.

In the current state of affairs in the Android world, phones are primarily infected when users download content (such as apps) from questionable sources. If you are one of those people that only downloads apps from Android Market, then you have (almost) nothing to worry about. Does that mean Android Market does not and cannot contain malware? Refer back to my earlier statement about everything having viruses to answer this question. However, so far there have only been a handful of cases involving malicious apps on Android Market and Google has pulled the apps and remotely wiped them from handsets. (Although, in some cases, there has been the need to reset phones to stock or use a security app to clean out the infection.) As long as you use a little bit of common sense while navigating Android Market (such as looking at the app name, the number of times an app has been downloaded, who the developer is, app ratings, app reviews, and what access permissions are requested), you should be safe. Now, of course, if you are in a habit of downloading apps from other sources, then you are exposed to a much higher level of risk.