Google Play Protect Recently updated with a powerful real-time scanner aimed at protecting users from externally installed apps play store, and the company’s efforts to prevent malicious users from gaining access to user information appear to be paying off. Proactive protection for users Android According to a report, the smartphone is capable of warning users, preventing app installation or disabling existing apps – and is capable of blocking a number of threats, including those that could be used to extort money from users. Could.
techcrunch reports Updated Google Play Protect malware detection capabilities, which the company announced last month Google for India 2023 The event was able to detect and block the publication’s attempts to install apps used to track users’ activities or flag them as harmful. Meanwhile, the service was able to block all but five predatory loan apps disguised as other Android apps, which were installed to test the capability of the code analysis feature.
Updated Play Protect service offers to scan sideloaded apps on Android
Photo Credit: Google
last month, Google explained The updated Play Protect aims to prevent cybercriminals from infecting users’ devices with polymorphic malware – malicious software designed to hide or modify its characteristics, making it harder to detect. While Play Protect scans previously scanned apps using on-device machine learning and an existing database of known malware, the new security features are much more advanced.
with improvement in play protect, Google’s scanners will be able to perform real-time code-level scanning to identify dangerous apps. When an app is scanned, the service will share vital signals from the app with the company’s scanning system for analysis. This will help protect users from malicious developers who use AI to obfuscate dangerous code in their apps.
Unlike iOS, Android smartphones allow users to sideload applications that are not available on the Google Play store. As a result, users can install apps in Android packages (apk) is formatted from unknown and untrusted sources and some of these may be modified by malicious actors to collect user information during use. Countries like India have also seen a rise in predatory lending apps that are known to extort users using data obtained from their smartphones, including their contacts.
Google announced in October that Play Protect improvements would be available to users in select countries on Android smartphones and tablets with Google Play services. According to the company, the new Play Protect scanning functionality is being rolled out to users in other regions after India.