We have multiple users that use mobile phones that run of varying versions of Android and often plug the phones into PCs running Windows and Linux that are attached to a wider network. Can an infected mobile phone affect PCs and laptops running Windows and/or Linux and what is the best way to avert further infection?
Linux – Can an infected Android mobile phone infect a PC running either Windows or Linux and what is the best way to prevent the spread of the infection
androidlinuxwindows
Best Answer
An app that runs on Android cannot run on any other OS - other than via an emulator. So if we are talking about a malicious android application, then there is no risk.
If on the other hand we are talking about a Windows virus that has copied itself onto a phone from an infected PC (because a phone attached to a PC can present itself as a storage device), then you have the possibility for that virus to be copied to another Windows PC, perhaps via an auto-sync process (lots of phones come with Windows software that comes with the ability to automatically sync various content types. If this happened, then the virus would have made it to another PC. At this stage it is just a file. It would then take someone to execute the file in order to run the virus program and infect the PC.
They could do this without it being copied of course, they could plug the phone in and browse to it with explorer and run the virus executable.
This vector for infection is really no different from a usb flash drive. That it is a phone doesn't really make much difference, it is that it is a storage device. So you would use the same process to prevent it - remove user permissions to add usb devices.