Yeah, we get it, Google Play Store and Android increasingly are the turds floating in the mobile device pool. Not enough competition, what with Apple, Amazon's Fire Android variant and Microsoft Windows 10 being the only other options out there. Wait, maybe it's time to dump Google Android.
Boffins laugh at Play Store bonehead security with instant app checker
An armada of university researchers have devised a novel method of detecting malicious applications on Android app, and by way of demonstration have dug up 127,429 shady software offerings, including some bearing exploits for a whopping 20 zero days. The scheme dubbed MassVet is the brainchild of eight researchers: Kai Chen; …
COMMENTS
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Monday 31st August 2015 16:47 GMT Anonymous Coward
Back in the real world, android devices with malware are very very rare indeed.
Snakeoil vendors and clickbait hungry reporting is keen to overinflate the significance of this.
Windows by far is still the cessspool. I have already come across windows 10 machines filled with viruses and adware.
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Monday 31st August 2015 19:02 GMT fung0
I think this is missing the point. The study finds that the tide of quick-and-dirty malware is increasing to the point where a bulk-analysis approach becomes worthwhile, probably as an adjunct to conventional anti-malware techniques. The study doesn't show that Google is screwing up - more that the playing field has shifted, and Google needs to broaden its approach accordingly.
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Monday 31st August 2015 07:55 GMT frank ly
"... 127,429 shady software offerings, ..."
We've seen articles like this before, from various researchers. Why don't they ever name the top 'selling' dodgy applications? If Angry Turds has been seen to sign the phone up to premium SMS services or if Mandy Blush has been seen to send a phone's entire contacts list to a Vietnamese server, why doesn't anyone ever say so?
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Monday 31st August 2015 13:03 GMT Anonymous Coward
Re: Apple bans similar analysis?
Apple bans similar analysis?
Oh really? Since When?
What I particularly like is the irony of Chinese people showing up Google. That has to hurt.
I think this is good news - the more people catch Google with their trousers down when it comes to app security, the more pressure it brings on them to fix issues which can only benefit everyone (well, of non-evil intent), and a framework that is simple is one that can be checked by others. Every time it gets complicated it creates nice little TL;DR boltholes for mistakes and oversights to hide.
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Monday 31st August 2015 23:02 GMT Anonymous Coward
f__k the Playstore
I have finally reached the point where I can get by with only one store on my Android phone and that is F-Droid. If you use a custom rom with it you can have zero accounts tracking you (don't necessarily need root access and can lock the bootloader after installing). Best of all, though F-Droid is not guaranteed to be free of malware but if an app is on there its source has to be available as well.