Google faces a big malware issue that affects billions of Android users and the company claims to be acting severely on the defaulters. Google has released its 2023 report which highlights that more than 2 million apps were blocked from going public on the Play Store. More importantly, the company mentions that it had identified and blocked more than 300,000 accounts that pushed out malicious apps, and broke other Play Store rules.
The only thing that Google’s latest data indicates is the major malware issue that has plagued Android for years. The company claims it is strengthening the systems to prevent these malicious apps from entering the app store. But the fact that over 2 million Android apps still manage to enter the process tells you the scale of work on Google’s part. The company’s post also details the work done behind the scenes to block these apps and accounts.
- More stringent developer registration and ID verification process
- Improving real-time scanning to block malware from executing
- Making firmware-level changes to stop SoC-level flaws from being exploited
- Independent security review badges for Android VPN apps
The concerns don’t end there though. Google also had to act on 200,000 apps that wanted permission to access your phone to read SMS content and background location data, which is not necessary for most apps that people use.
The company tends to advise its users to download apps from genuine sources like the Play Store to avoid falling into the trap of these fraudulent apps or clicking on ads that take you to other unknown websites. Google seems to be trying its best to thwart the dangers but when an ecosystem has billions of users, they are going to be targeted for the wrong reasons.
