Malware on Android tablet?

November 10, 2012 12:48 AM

I was browsing reddit on my Android tablet and had opened a number of tabs in the background in Chrome; I noticed that one of them had downloaded an .apk file (333s111.apk, the only other reference to which is here). I didn't run the .apk and deleted it straight away via the File Manager. I didn't see any evidence that it installed itself, or did anything malicious, and I don't have that option that allows non-Market apps to install themselves turned on.

Reassure me, MeFi. I would have noticed something happen if it was malware, right? There would have to have been some sort of installation popup? And how did a website (which I'm pretty sure was only imgur and tumblr) automatically download a file like that? Seems to me it would be like Windows automatically downloading .exe files.

posted by alby to Technology (1 answer total)

Best answer: Yes, you would have needed to install the apk for anything to happen. Chrome will start automatically downloading something marked as binary, just like a desktop browser, without a confirmation dialog.
posted by dobi at 4:58 AM on November 10, 2012 [1 favorite]