Google Play Protect will automatically block malicious apps on Android

To protect users from online financial scams, Google Play Protection will soon start automatically blocking the installation of malicious apps on Android. The new feature, which was first tested in Singapore, was announced by the search giant last Tuesday (6).

According to the company, the threat detection service’s advanced protection will provide detailed analysis of the use of sensitive runtime permissions common in financial fraud. The goals will be four specific requests: RECEIVE_SMS (receive SMS), READ_SMS (read SMS), BIND_NOTIFICATIONS (notification history) and Accessibility (accessibility).

As big tech explains, these permissions are “often used by fraudsters to intercept one-time passwords and spy on screen content via SMS or notifications.” More than 95% of installations of malware families exploiting these types of requests come from unofficial sources.

Once this new security tool is enabled, Google Play Protection will automatically block malicious apps that contain any of these four permissions. It blocks their installation for downloads outside of the Play Store. A warning will then be displayed on the screen informing the user why the software in question is not allowed.

Is there availability in more regions?

Firstly, Play Protect will automatically block malicious apps for Singapore residents only. The enhanced protection is part of a strategic partnership with the Singapore Cyber ​​Security Agency (CSA) and will be launched “in the coming weeks,” according to Google.

This feature has already been tested by the local government and will now be generally available on Android devices with Google Play Services. There is currently no estimate for availability of the protection tool in more countriesThe Mountain View giant plans to verify the efficiency of the system before expanding access.

Recently, the Android threat detection service was updated with improved real-time scanning. Optimized functionality to deal with software that uses AI and other methods to evade analysis, currently 515 thousand new malicious applications detected and 3.1 million installations blocked.