Google Play store is a very popular app downloader for Android devices because of the heavy presence of people on this store, for reasons alike it has often been targeted by cybercriminals who create malicious apps that are designed to harm users’ devices, steal their sensitive credentials and exploit vulnerabilities. And, because of this, customers of the play store often raise questions about cybersecurity measures however, Google has taken various major steps in the past to combat this problem.
Under recent security features and app review processes the company successfully blocked 1.43 million fake malicious apps from being published to the Play Store in 2022.
Furthermore, the company disclosed that it has also banned 173,000 malicious accounts and warded off over $2 billion in fraudulent and abusive transactions through developer-facing features like Obfuscated Account ID, Voided Purchases API, and Play Integrity API.
Google also issued additional security requirements for developers who are looking to join the Play Store ecosystem including developers' email and phone verification. The addition of identity verification methods contributed to a reduction in accounts used to publish apps that go against its policies, Google pointed out.
Google also tied up with California-based tech giant software development kit (SDK) providers to launch the Google Play SDK Index to assist developers assess an SDK’s reliability and safety.
Along with this, the company updated its ad policy for developers to prevent fake ads on its Play Store and has been reaching out to developers to educate them about security practices. As per the data, over the past three years, the company prevented around 500,000 submitted apps from unnecessarily accessing sensitive permissions.
In addition to this, Google has also introduced new license requirements for personal loan apps in some cities in Africa and South Asia such as Kenya, Nigeria, and the Philippines. It also implemented very strict requirements for loan app developers in India to combat fraud.
The blog post of the company said that these measures have been taken under new and improved security features and policy enhancements, as well as company is continuously investing in machine learning systems and app review processes for further security and innovation.
