Google has issued an update on its plans to keep Android users safe from the barrage of dangerous Android apps released yearly.
It’s no secret that Android has a big problem with dangerous apps. Over the past few years, there have been endless reports of users being duped into downloading phone applications that can install bank-stealing malware, flood devices with unwanted adverts, and grant hackers access to private permissions.
It’s one of the biggest worries when choosing Android over Apple, but Google is clearly hell-bent on fixing it.
The US technology has just confirmed that it blocked a worrying 2.36 million policy-violating apps from appearing on the Play Store last year alone. It also banned more than 158,000 “bad developer” accounts that attempted to publish harmful applications – that means they will no longer be able submit new software to Google’s platform in the future.
It’s also been confirmed that Google’s new initiative stopped 1.3million apps from getting excessive and unnecessary access to the sensitive data of users.
Along with human intervention, Google says the crackdown has been helped by advancements in AI, which have been used to better monitor the millions of apps submitted to the Play Store each year.
“To keep out bad actors, we have always used a combination of human security experts and the latest threat-detection technology,” Google explained.
“In 2024, we used Google’s advanced AI to improve our systems’ ability to proactively identify malware, enabling us to detect and block bad apps more effectively.”
Of course, one of the benefits of Android is that users can sideload apps onto their devices. This offers access to more applications but it can also mean cyber criminals get an easy way to install malware onto phones.
Google says it also working hard to alert users if it thinks they have downloaded a dangerous app onto their devices.
“While the Play Store offers best-in-class security, we know it’s not the only place users download Android apps – so it’s important that we also defend Android users from more generalized mobile threats,” Google continued..
“To do this in an open ecosystem, we’ve invested in sophisticated, real-time defenses that protect against scams, malware, and abusive apps. These intelligent security measures help to keep users, user data, and devices safe, even if apps are installed from various sources with varying levels of security.”
One way this is being achieved is via the Google Play Protect service which automatically scans every app on Android devices with Google Play Services, no matter the download source. This built-in protection, enabled by default, provides crucial security against malware and unwanted software.
“This year, we’ll continue to protect the Android and Google Play ecosystem, building on these tools and resources in response to user and developer feedback and the changing landscape,” confirmed Google.
“As always, we’ll keep empowering developers to build safer apps more easily, streamline their policy experience, and protect their businesses and users from bad actors.”
