14 PCWorld DECEMBER 2019NEWS APP DEFENSE ALLIANCE
effect since Android 8 Oreo. Built to run in
the background, Play Protect regularly scans
the apps in the Play Store and installed on
your phone for known malware and alerts
users to their existence.
The only problem is, it’s not very good.
According to AV-Test’s bi-monthly antivirus
review (go.pcworld.com/avrv), Play Protect
scores dead last in protection and usability,
identifying just 55 percent of the latest
Android malware attacks versus the industry
average of 97 percent.
The new App Defense Alliance looks to
boost that number. As Google explains in a
blog post (go.pcworld.com/ingp), it will be
“integrating our Google Play Protect
detection systems with each partner’s
scanning engines. This will generate new
app risk intelligence as apps are being
queued to publish. Partners will analyze that
dataset and act as another, vital set of eyes
prior to an app going live on the Play Store.”
That should make it much more powerful in
tracking, targeting, and stopping malicious
apps before they have a chance to infect
your phone.
Google says it “hand-picked these
partners based on their successes in finding
potential threats and their dedication to
improving the ecosystem.” The new system
will use a combination of machine learning
and static/dynamic analysis to pinpoint bad
actors before they can hit the Play Store.
Google doesn’t say whether the new systemPlay Protect scans the apps in the Play Store and
installed on your phone for known malware.will also work locally on individual phones,
but if Google can stop malware from reaching
the Play Store in the first place, we shouldn’t
have to worry as much about the apps on our
phones.
It’s unclear from the blog post when the
new system will go live, but presumably it will
take effect via an upcoming Play Store
firmware update.