Play store apps to be scanned for malware

Google is changing and bringing in a much stricter way to check whether any of the apps uploaded on its Play store are malicious. All new apps will from now on be scanned by malware detection tools which are being provided by three cybersecurity companies and along with Google’s own in-house malware detection software.

Google said that outside help in this regard was inevitable because the volume of apps created and uploaded on Play store every day is a very large number to handle alone by Google. The companies that will be helping Google in this regards are Zimperium, Eset, and Lookout and will form together what Google has termed as the App Defence Alliance.

All these four partners will set up a scanning system that is combined and will check apps for any possible malware content in them as they pass through the pipeline and on the way to become uploaded on the Play store.

The scanning system is based on thousands of databases of known malware, behavioural clues and various machine learning models of threats. It will look for the Trojans, adware, and ransomware, banking malware and phishing attacks.

Mr Dave Kleidermacher, Google’s vice-president for Android safety has said that Google has not yet scaled up the process despite knowing the issues involved. So now it has decided to come up with such a process with help from other companies as well. Mr Kleidermacher said that the number of apps being created and uploaded on the Play store worldwide is so huge that even making a 1% improvement will be seen as a major change.

Google has recently taken a number of other steps as well for making stricter mechanisms of app uploading on Play store. Play store is an ideal way for hackers and software developers with malicious intent by uploading an app that contains malware which can spread very easily through the Playstore.