Android and Google Play comprise a vibrant ecosystem with billions of customers across the globe and hundreds of thousands of useful apps. Holding this ecosystem protected for customers and builders stays our prime precedence. Nevertheless, like several flourishing ecosystem, it additionally attracts its share of unhealthy actors. That’s why yearly, we proceed to spend money on extra methods to guard our group and struggle unhealthy actors, so customers can belief the apps they obtain from Google Play and builders can construct thriving companies.
Final yr, these investments included AI-powered risk detection, stronger privateness insurance policies, supercharged developer instruments, new industry-wide alliances, and extra. Because of this, we prevented 2.36 million policy-violating apps from being revealed on Google Play and banned greater than 158,000 unhealthy developer accounts that tried to publish dangerous apps.
However that was simply the beginning. For extra, check out our latest highlights from 2024:
Google’s superior AI: serving to make Google Play a safer place
To maintain out unhealthy actors, we now have at all times used a mixture of human safety specialists and the newest threat-detection know-how. In 2024, we used Google’s superior AI to enhance our techniques’ capacity to proactively establish malware, enabling us to detect and block unhealthy apps extra successfully. It additionally helps us streamline evaluation processes for builders with a confirmed observe document of coverage compliance. Right now, over 92% of our human evaluations for dangerous apps are AI-assisted, permitting us to take faster and extra correct motion to assist stop dangerous apps from changing into accessible on Google Play.
That’s enabled us to cease extra unhealthy apps than ever from reaching customers by means of the Play Retailer, defending customers from dangerous or malicious apps earlier than they will trigger any harm.
Working with builders to boost safety and privateness on Google Play
To guard consumer privateness, we’re working with builders to scale back pointless entry to delicate knowledge. In 2024, we prevented 1.3 million apps from getting extreme or pointless entry to delicate consumer knowledge. We additionally required apps to be extra clear about how they deal with consumer info by launching new developer necessities and a brand new “Information deletion” choice for apps that help consumer accounts and knowledge assortment. This helps customers handle their app knowledge and perceive the app’s deletion practices, making it simpler for Play customers to delete knowledge collected from third-party apps.
We additionally labored to make sure that apps use the strongest and latest privateness and safety capabilities Android has to supply. Each new model of Android introduces new safety and privateness options, and we encourage builders to embrace these developments as quickly as doable. On account of partnering intently with builders, over 91% of app installs on the Google Play Retailer now use the newest protections of Android 13 or newer.
Safeguarding apps from scams and fraud is an ongoing battle for builders. The Play Integrity API permits builders to verify if their apps have been tampered with or are working in doubtlessly compromised environments, serving to them to stop abuse like fraud, bots, dishonest, and knowledge theft. Play Integrity API and Play’s computerized safety helps builders be certain that customers are utilizing the official Play model of their app with the newest safety updates. Apps utilizing Play integrity options are seeing 80% decrease utilization from unverified and untrusted sources on common.
We’re additionally continuously working to enhance the protection of apps on Play at scale, resembling with the Google Play SDK Index. This software provides insights and knowledge to assist builders make extra knowledgeable choices concerning the security of an SDK. Final yr, along with including 80 SDKs to the index, we additionally labored intently with SDK and app builders to handle potential SDK safety and privateness points, serving to to construct safer and safer apps for Google Play.
Google Play’s multi-layered protections towards unhealthy apps
To create a trusted expertise for everybody on Google Play, we use our SAFE ideas as a information, incorporating multi-layered protections which are at all times evolving to assist maintain Google Play protected. These protections begin with the builders themselves, who play an important function in constructing safe apps. We offer builders with best-in-class instruments, greatest practices, and on-demand coaching assets for constructing protected, high-quality apps. Each app undergoes rigorous evaluation and testing, with solely accredited apps allowed to seem within the Play Retailer. Earlier than a consumer downloads an app from Play, customers can discover its consumer evaluations, rankings, and Information security part on Google Play to assist them make an knowledgeable resolution. And as soon as put in, Google Play Defend, Android’s built-in safety safety, helps to protect their Android machine by repeatedly scanning for malicious app conduct.
Enhancing Google Play Defend to assist maintain customers protected on Android
Whereas the Play Retailer provides best-in-class safety, we all know it’s not the one place customers obtain Android apps – so it’s essential that we additionally defend Android customers from extra generalized cellular threats. To do that in an open ecosystem, we’ve invested in refined, real-time defenses that shield towards scams, malware, and abusive apps. These clever safety measures assist to maintain customers, consumer knowledge, and gadgets protected, even when apps are put in from numerous sources with various ranges of safety.
Google Play Defend mechanically scans each app on Android gadgets with Google Play Providers, irrespective of the obtain supply. This built-in safety, enabled by default, offers essential safety towards malware and undesirable software program. Google Play Defend scans greater than 200 billion apps every day and performs real-time scanning on the code-level on novel apps to fight rising and hidden threats, like polymorphic malware. In 2024, Google Play Defend’s real-time scanning recognized greater than 13 million new malicious apps from outdoors Google Play1.
Google Play Defend is at all times evolving to fight new threats and shield customers from dangerous apps that may result in scams and fraud. Listed here are a number of the new enhancements that at the moment are accessible globally on Android gadgets with Google Play Providers:
- Reminder notifications in Chrome on Android to re-enable Google Play Defend: In accordance with our analysis, greater than 95 p.c of app installations from main malware households that exploit delicate permissions extremely correlated to monetary fraud got here from Web-sideloading sources like internet browsers, messaging apps, or file managers. To assist customers keep protected when searching the net, Chrome will now show a reminder notification to re-enable Google Play Defend if it has been turned off.
- Extra safety towards social engineering assaults: Scammers might manipulate customers into disabling Play Defend throughout calls to obtain malicious Web-sideloaded apps. To stop this, the Play Defend app scanning toggle is now quickly disabled throughout telephone or video calls. This safeguard is enabled by default throughout conventional telephone calls in addition to throughout voice and video calls in well-liked third-party apps.
- Routinely revoking app permissions for doubtlessly harmful apps: Since Android 11, we’ve taken a proactive strategy to knowledge privateness by mechanically resetting permissions for apps that customers have not used shortly. This ensures apps can solely entry the information they honestly want, and customers can at all times grant permissions again if needed. To additional improve safety, Play Defend now mechanically revokes permissions for doubtlessly dangerous apps, limiting their entry to delicate knowledge like storage, photographs, and digital camera. Customers can restore app permissions at any time, with a affirmation step for added safety.
Google Play Defend’s enhanced fraud safety pilot analyzes and mechanically blocks the set up of apps that will use delicate permissions continuously abused for monetary fraud when the consumer makes an attempt to put in the app from an Web-sideloading supply (internet browsers, messaging apps, or file managers).
Constructing on the success of our preliminary pilot in partnership with the Cyber Safety Company of Singapore (CSA), extra enhanced fraud safety pilots at the moment are lively in 9 areas – Brazil, Hong Kong, India, Kenya, Nigeria, Philippines, South Africa, Thailand, and Vietnam.
In 2024, Google Play Defend’s enhanced fraud safety pilots have shielded 10 million gadgets from over 36 million dangerous set up makes an attempt, encompassing over 200,000 distinctive apps.
By piloting these new protections, we are able to proactively fight rising threats and refine our options to thwart scammers and their more and more refined fraud makes an attempt. We sit up for persevering with to associate with governments, ecosystem companions, and different stakeholders to enhance consumer protections.
App badging to assist customers discover apps they will belief at a look on Google Play
In 2024, we launched a brand new badge for presidency builders to assist customers world wide establish official authorities apps. Authorities apps are sometimes targets of impersonation because of the extremely delicate nature of the information customers present, giving unhealthy actors the flexibility to steal identities and commit monetary fraud. Badging verified authorities apps is a vital step in serving to join individuals with protected, high-quality, helpful, and related experiences. We associate intently with international governments and are already exploring methods to construct on this work.
We additionally lately launched a new badge to assist Google Play customers uncover VPN apps that take further steps to show their sturdy dedication to safety. We permit builders who adhere to Play security and safety tips and have handed a further unbiased Cell Software Safety Evaluation (MASA) to show a devoted badge within the Play Retailer to spotlight their elevated dedication to security.
Collaborating to advance app safety requirements
Along with our partnerships with governments, builders, and different stakeholders, we additionally labored with our {industry} friends to guard all the app ecosystem for everybody. The App Protection Alliance, in partnership with fellow steering committee members Microsoft and Meta, lately launched the ADA Software Safety Evaluation (ASA) v1.0, a brand new customary to assist builders construct safer cellular, internet, and cloud functions. This customary offers clear steerage on defending delicate knowledge, defending towards cyberattacks, and finally, strengthening consumer belief. This marks a major step ahead in establishing industry-wide safety greatest practices for utility improvement.
All builders are inspired to evaluation and adjust to the brand new cellular safety customary. You’ll see this customary in motion for all provider apps pre-installed on future Pixel telephone fashions.
Wanting forward
This yr, we’ll proceed to guard the Android and Google Play ecosystem, constructing on these instruments and assets in response to consumer and developer suggestions and the altering panorama. As at all times, we’ll maintain empowering builders to construct safer apps extra simply, streamline their coverage expertise, and shield their companies and customers from unhealthy actors.
1 Primarily based on Google Play Defend 2024 inside knowledge.