More than 2 billion Android devices around the world rely on applications, whether ordering pizzas or trying to pinpoint Pokies, although applications can bring useful functionality but they can also be very costly.
Last April, ESET, a security company, found that a seemingly innocuous flashlight app on the Google Play Store was actually malware designed to steal bank information.The anti-virus company Avast found the same malware in several applications Software such as the Solitaire game Last September, Google had to remove 50 malicious applications that had millions of downloads.
Although all of these applications have slipped in Google's market, the company said 99% of applications are 'ready to install' until malicious content is identified and denied.
Andrew Ahn, Google's product manager, said in a blog post that Google is able to solve this problem through machine learning, which is designed to remove inappropriate content, malware and counterfeiters.
Ahn said the algorithm can detect repeat offenders, as well as developers who are trying to abuse the system, adding that Google removed 100,000 bad developers in 2017.
Most of the applications that were deleted were counterfeit applications, and these fake applications developers are trying to replicate the patterns of popular applications.Google said it has deleted more than 250,000 fake applications in 2017. Before Google removed it in November last year, The fake version of 'WhatsApp', a popular chat application, was downloaded at least 1 million times.
Google said it is getting better with new algorithms to detect unwanted apps and said it has been able to reduce the number of people who eventually download malware from stores, and said Google Play Protect, which scans phones, can be compared to 2016 Reduce the number of potentially harmful applications by 10x.