Google: Potentially harmful apps on Android devices cut in half in 2015

According to Google, 0.5 percent of all Android devices have a Potentially Harmful Application in the past year. A year earlier, it was still 1 percent. For devices that only install apps from Google Play, this was 0.15 percent, comparable to last year.

The numbers appear from the Android Security report. Google states that more than a billion Android devices are checked for the presence of phas: apps that collect data, contain spyware or download malicious files. Scanning is done through Google Mobile Services, the collection of apps such as Gmail and Chrome. Android devices without Google apps are therefore excluded from the study.

Google says it improved the system to scan for dangerous apps in 2015, including by working with machine learning. As a result, more than 400 million automatic scans per day would be performed on Android devices. Google also states that it has become more difficult for malicious parties to get a potentially dangerous app in Google Play. In 2015, the probability of installing a pha from Google’s download store is said to have fallen by 40 percent compared to 2014.

A visual and textual adjustment of the dialog box when installing apps from an unknown source would reduce the number of malicious apps installed by 50 percent, says Google. That window now displays a red triangle with an exclamation point to alert users to the potential dangers.

Since August 2015, Android devices with version 4.4 or newer can receive monthly security updates. Google uses that cycle with its Nexus devices and hopes that more brands will do so than is currently the case. Google says it will help partners make security updates available more quickly.

In 2015, Android came under fire for a serious leak in its video framework. The Stagefright bug left millions of Android users vulnerable. Google states in its security report that, as of the writing of the report, it has not observed any successful attempts to exploit the vulnerabilities against users’ devices.

In the report, Google also highlights the new security features introduced with Android 6.0 Marsmallow. However, that version is still only on 4.6 percent of all Android devices in use. Google also announced that it has paid $210,161 to security researchers who have discovered vulnerabilities in Android. Android has been part of the Google Vulnerability Rewards Program since June 2015, and 100 vulnerabilities have been reported, 30 of which are critical.

It is the second year that Google itself publishes a report on the security of Android. Last year, the report found that about 1 percent of all Android devices had a potentially dangerous app in 2014. For devices that only use the Google Play Store, this was 0.15 percent, just like this year.