Piloting new ways of protecting Android users from financial fraud

Posted by Eugene Liderman, Director of Mobile Security Strategy, Google

From its founding, Android has been guided by principles of openness, transparency, safety, and choice. Android gives you the freedom to choose which device best fits your needs, while also providing the flexibility to download apps from a variety of sources, including preloaded app stores such as the Google Play Store or the Galaxy Store; third-party app stores; and direct downloads from the Internet.

Keeping users safe in an open ecosystem takes sophisticated defenses. That’s why Android provides multiple layers of protections, powered by AI and backed by a large dedicated security & privacy team, to help to protect our users from security threats while continually making the platform more resilient. We also provide our users with numerous built-in protections like Google Play Protect, the world’s most widely deployed threat detection service, which actively scans over 125 billion apps on devices every day to monitor for harmful behavior. That said, our data shows that a disproportionate amount of bad actors take advantage of select APIs and distribution channels in this open ecosystem.

Elevating app security in an open ecosystem

While users have the flexibility to download apps from many sources, the safety of an app can vary depending on the download source. Google Play, for example, carries out rigorous operational reviews to ensure app safety, including proper high-risk API use and permissions handling. Other app stores may also follow established policies and procedures that help reduce risks to users and their data. These protections often include requirements for developers to declare which permissions their apps use and how developers plan to use app data. Conversely, standalone app distribution sources like web browsers, messaging apps or file managers – which we commonly refer to as Internet-sideloading – do not offer the same rigorous requirements and operational reviews. Our data demonstrates that users who download from these sources today face unusually high security ris

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