For Android and security, we know that there is a issue With no type of approval system for app developers, some malicious apps sometimes make it into the Android Market, with nothing but the intention of causing harm to device & your wallet as well. This Probblem is known to Google and Company has been working hard to reduce the number of malicious apps that make it into the market.
Google announced that for the past few months, they are using a service they developed called Bouncer. Bouncer is a service for the Android Market that scan Android Market for malicious apps, all without disrupting the user experience of the Android Market, or needing developers to go through an approval process in order to get apps onto the market.
Bouncer works in the background of the Android Market just by scanning applications to see if they contain any known trojans, malware, spyware. The analysis is done on new applications, applications already in the Android Market, and developer accounts. This service detects malicious apps by analyzing apps. Also, Bouncer also looks for behaviors that could indicate that an app is doing something which it shouldn’t be by comparing it against apps that have been previously analyzed.
Google has been using Bouncer for a while now & based on number of malicious content apps found in the Android Market, it seems like the service is doing its job. In year 2011, there was a 40% decrease in the number of potentially-malicious downloads from Android Market.
With Bouncer , Google wanted to remind us that Android was designed with the intention of keeping mobile malware as least disruptive
Some of the core security features implemented in Android are:
Sandboxing: Platform uses a technique known as “sandboxing” to put walls between applications & other software on device. Even if user download a malicious application, it can not access data on other parts of phone & its potential harm is drastically limited.
Permissions: It provides a permission system to help user understand the capabilities of the apps they install, manage their own preferences. so, if user look a game unnecessarily requests permission to send SMS,they can stop it.
Malware removal: Android is designed to prevent malware from changing the platform or hiding from user, so it can be simply removed if their device is affected.
So, Google is using this new Bouncer service to identify potentially-malicious apps & stopping them before they are installed on people’s machine.
