Google reports decrease in malware on its Android Play Store

The amount of malware that was found in apps listed on the Google Play Store has been decreased compared to 2015.  Google reports the numbers on its blog where it also sums up the new security measures the company has taken in 2016 to protect its mobile operating system Android.

ADVERTISEMENT

Google reports that at the end of 2016 about 0.05% of all devices, that only downloaded apps from the Google Play Store ,was infected with some kind of malware. The year before that number was 0.015%.

About 0.016% of all apps installed through the Google Play Store in 2016 contained a trojan, a decrease of 51.5% compared to the year before. Also the amount of malcious downloaders, apps with a backdoor and phishing apps, decreased with respectively 54.6%, 30.5% and 73%.

Google did see an increase of the percentage of Android devices on which malware is installed, from 0.5% in 2015 to 0.71% last year. This number includes all Android devices, also those with apps that are installed from other sources than the Google Play Store.

ADVERTISEMENT

In its blog Google also reports the way and how fast older Android devices receive security updates. The company is criticized for the fact that many Android owners have to depend on phone manufacturers, and not Google, for security updates. Updates are therefore much slower released that needed, or are not released at all for older devices.

Of all Android devices that were in use last year, about 50% didn't receive a security update. The company hopes to change that this year by , "streamlining our security update program to make it easier for manufacturers to deploy security patches".

No posts to display