Google launches Play Protect to all Android users.
Google in October announced a new real-time app scanning feature built into Google Play that will help catch malicious or fake side-loaded apps installed from outside the app store. This feature will come in handy for all Android operating system users as it will conduct a real-time analysis of an Android app’s code and block it from installing the app if it’s considered potentially harmful.
With the world of technology evolving day and night there is a big possibility that these app developers will morph the appearances of the apps or use AI to alter the apps codes in a way that will help them avoid detection. Play Protect however will be able to analyze the code and extract important signals from the app and send them to the Play Protect backend infrastructure for a code-level evaluation. App store has billions of apps that Google screens for malware, though not always successfully. Sideloading remains a popular feature for Android users, even if it means having to trust that the app they are installing is not malicious.
The future of social media is vertical as start ups are focusing on specific community niches.
Google has many reasons for this new development but one of the key reasons is to counter the proliferation of predatory loan apps. These apps have resulted in the harassment of users, leading in some cases of victims taking their own lives. Bad actors gain access to user data, including contacts and photos, which are used to bully users. Google initially launched the Play Protect update in India, with plans to soon expand internationally. India was a country of choice as a recent extensively covered on the impact of predatory loan apps revealed how these apps have really negatively influenced Indians.
Its not only India but even in Kenya most of these apps have been put on the spotlight for misusing or using its users data without their consent. Google also said it took down over 3,500 such apps in the year for violating its policy requirements. Attackers still find ways to target their victims.