Google announced that it would increase its app security on Google Play in order to protect its users from malicious apps that feature on the online store.
According to Digital Journal, Google will be replacing the 2013 ‘Verify Apps’ security feature with the new mandatory one to scan all apps. The flaw in the previous security feature was that it would only scan for malicious codes after it was installed into the local device.
Google is taking a proactive initiative to add the security layer and will now host a dual-layer security system. First, the security feature will first scan all local apps on the device to look for malicious activities, such as SMS abuse. After that a server-side scan on Google Play store will also scan all apps in the Play Store.
The new security feature update will roll out in a few weeks and will be available for all Android devices with Android v2.3 and above. However, the feature is optional and the user can choose to disable it if he/she wants. The other way to be careful of the apps you install is to scan the apps with a third-party anti-malware utility.
