It is reported that 99% of the malware designs are targeted towards android mobile phones. Although most people are aware of malicious software targeting their computers, many are yet to realize even their mobile devices are exposed to such cybercriminals.
The initial months were challenging for Google as various situations occurred where malware was made available to download from Google Play. Moreover, cybercriminals managed to coax millions of people into installing apps that were built to steal their social networking sites’ credentials, banking passwords, etc.
Google has always been cautious when it comes to its security. Therefore, it introduced another security blanket, Google Play Protect.
Play protect was introduced as one of the biggest security systems at the Google I/O developer conference in May 2016.
A security system, an upgraded version of the ‘verify apps’ service was rolled out for Android devices. Play protect is a real-time scanner that will scan the device at once and identify any potential malicious apps. It provides detailed & apt information about Android device security and apps.
Undoubtedly, Android proudly hosts a larger market share of the mobile market as compared to iOS. iOS has strongly hedged itself to not to allow users from downloading apps from anywhere except its own ‘Apple’ app store. Therefore, this leaves iOS free from malware.
There were several apps with pernicious code which made entry into Android Play Store, that was detected and brought to Google’s attention. After that, Google became more cautious with its security system and introduced Play Protect. Play protect will help in providing information about an app with malicious code to Google’s servers.
Play protect is not any separate app, it is a feature by default on all Android devices. This feature is available on Google play services from version 11. To use this feature, update your Google Play services.
Settings-> Google -> Security -> Verify Apps -> Google Play Protect -> Turn On the security Scan Check
Google play protect can be activated by following the above steps and eventually it helps in analyzing apps. It also enables to see the apps which had been scanned with their last scanned time.
A part of play protect helps in remotely tracking lost devices. It is a modified version of Android Device Manager redesigned to a friendlier interface. If the device is not claimed back, it gives the freedom to lock or erase the data completely to the owner.
Play protect uses machine learning algorithms method to scan 50 billion apps regularly to identify any possible suspicious malware in the world of apps. This will help in detecting possible harmful signals and identify apps which possess privacy risk.
These features also help the developers to perform testing of the app at a faster pace.
It continuously scans and monitors the apps from third-party stores. If there is any risk detected, Play Protect disables it and warns the user.
Play protect feature ‘Safe browsing’ protection in chrome safeguards the users from perilous websites. It protects a billion devices every day by giving warnings to users when they attempt to navigate dangerous sites or download risk-prone files.
This will help in judging the reliability and evaluate the safety of each app before installing it on phone.
Due to past experiences, Google has taken security issues seriously. It has been designed to ensure every Android device is always protected from any form of harm. Therefore, they try to provide a transparent picture of what is happening in the app as security on devices. The app updates automatically, so sit back, relax and let Google help you out.
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