Google has formed an ‘App Defense Alliance” to curb the presence of malicious applications present in Android’s Google PlayStore.
App Defense Alliance by Google
Google has put together several prominent cybersecurity companies under an allied organisation called the App Defense Alliance.
The partnership is a collaboration between ESET, Lookout and Zimperium, and according to Google, its main objective would be to ensure the safety of the Play Store by identifying potentially harmful applications and preventing them from being released.
The Blog by Google states how the procedure will work, “All of our partners work in the world of endpoint protection and … use a combination of machine learning and static/ dynamic analysis to detect bad apps in the wild. Multiple heuristic engines working in concert will increase our efficiency in identifying potentially harmful apps.”
As part of this Partnership, Google is integrating the Google Play Protect detection systems with the scanning engines of each partner. This will generate new threat intelligence applications as apps are being queued to release. Partners must evaluate the dataset and serve as a critical set of eyes before the Play Store app goes live.
This move comes after Lukas Stefanko, a malware analyst at ESET tweeted about his finding on how unsafe Android Applications are being installed by more than 335 Million.
Android Security Monthly Recap #9
Review of harmful apps found on Google Play in September 2019
Summary: 172 apps with over 335,952,400 installshttps://t.co/6plz04x2Ce pic.twitter.com/PfJf4ueBF5
— Lukas Stefanko (@LukasStefanko) October 1, 2019
This move by Google of involving other 3rd parties to keep its Playstore safe is praised by many. This alliance will be a move towards more safer Android devices.