Electronics

[smoky22]

I just bought a Kindle Fire 7 and would like some advice on whether or not I need virus protection on it.  And if so, what.

I never had virus protection on my old kindle fire but only used it at home.  I plan to take the new one on a trip with me and will probably use public wifi.

[dharts]

Do you think only public wifi is dangerous??!! You need virus protection for anything you do online, whether it's at home or away. You can get anti-virus software that includes protection for mutlitple devices, including your tablets phones and computers. Norton and Trend Micro offer this. I'm sure a lot of other vendors have the same. AVG has a free one for tablets, I believe. You are NOT safe when online only at home.

[smoky22]

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@dharts  sorry to be so stupid.  I have virus protection on my other devices.  Wasn't sure about a kindle fire.  On my old kindle fire, I only used it as an ereader.

I'll look into AVG, but being an Amazon product I wondered if there was something specific out there that was better for it. 

[Nuttmeg]

Just go to Amazon and download the app from the app store. 

[smoky22]

@Nuttmeg  thank you so much for your help. I tried to get it just by going to the internet and it wouldn't download.  I needed to go to the Amazon App store as you suggested.  However, I downloaded Malwarebytes instead.  Do I still need AVG?  

[apple1964]

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@smoky22 wrote:

@Nuttmeg  thank you so much for your help. I tried to get it just by going to the internet and it wouldn't download.  I needed to go to the Amazon App store as you suggested.  However, I downloaded Malwarebytes instead.  Do I still need AVG?  

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Hello smokey, I have Norton on my fire its free and I have everything I need ... I still think if I did not have Norton I would get AVG on my tablet. How do you like your kindle? I just brought  a couple of months ago the fire 5th generation and love it. Hope your enjoying yours.

[VaBelle35]

I had Trend on my Kindle Fire as part of my virus protection package for all of my devices, but my Fire is too old and the program doesn't work on it anymore.

I am only using my Fire as a reader now adn will buy a newer Fire next month

[kcladyz]

you can get free virus protection apps  but I never ever had a virus on a tablet and I am a heavy comuter user.

 I read an article they do not need antivirus. 

This is what i found online: "The Kindle Fire and Kindle Fire HD do not need antivirus or malware protection because they are not “proliferation-friendly” devices, run a custom version of Android, and cannot multi-task, and therefore are not (yet) being targeted by hackers."

I had  used AVG  on most of my tablets but for my fire I almost never use it other than reading. 

[itiswhatitis]

I highly recommend you look into some sort of virus/malware protection.  Depending on what you do with your Kindle is what determines your vulnerability.  If you use it for banking, purchasing and things of that nature you NEED protection.

These devices indeed can become infected just like a computer can.  Say you open an email that is problematic.....you will need something to block spam, clean up any mess if it causes one and more.

YES you need virus and/or malware protection.

[smoky22]

Thanks to everyone for the responses.  After having the Kindle Fire 7 for a couple of weeks I'm finding that I use it mainly as an ereader and for the games. 

@apple1964  In some ways I prefer the Fire to the Voyage as an ereader (go figure, the voyage was almost 4 times as much ).  For one thing, the book covers are in color and look more like real books. 

I also got 6 months free of The Washington Post and find myself reading those articles quite a bit, but I don't think I'd pay for the subscription. 

I also like that the Fire 7 came with Alexa,  but I took it on a trip recently and found that my smartphone was actually more useful (for maps, etc.).