In 2023, Google said nearly 200,000 apps submitted to the Play Store were rejected or required to fix issues related to access to sensitive data like location or SMS messages. The Android operating system maker also banned 333,000 accounts from the app store for distributing malware and multiple policy violations.
To help protect user privacy at scale, Google has partnered with SDK (software development kit) providers to restrict access and sharing of sensitive data, enhancing security for more than 31 SDKs, which has impacted more than 790,000 apps.
The 2.28 million apps blocked in 2023 represents nearly double the effectiveness of the previous year. In 2022, Google blocked 1.43 million apps and banned 173,000 accounts.
Applying technology helps Google increase efficiency in removing malicious applications
Additionally, the company said it has strengthened its developer review and onboarding process, requiring additional identification information and completing a verification process when setting up a developer account. This allows it to better understand the developer community and root out bad actors who abuse the system to distribute malicious apps.
Google is taking steps to secure the Android ecosystem. In November 2023, the company organized the Application Defense Alliance (ADA) under the auspices of the Linux Foundation, with Meta and Microsoft joining as founding members. This move demonstrates the members’ commitment to strengthening application security and related standards across the ecosystem.
The company also rolled out real-time scanning at the source code level to address malware on Android, as well as awarding an “Independent Security Review” badge to VPN apps that have undergone a mobile app security review. Google has also removed about 1.5 million apps from the Play Store that weren’t using the latest APIs.
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