Two-year study reveals big problems for Android

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A study conducted over a two-year period shows that dangerous apps remain a significant problem on Android , despite improvements by Google that should have improved user safety. Researchers from the University of Sydney and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation's (CSIRO) Data61 group built an advanced app analysis system that relies on so-called convolutional neural networks to scan apps and identify similarities, including app icons.

The study found dangerous apps, often using icons that mimic popular games, in an attempt to trick users into downloading them. The study also relied on performing anti-malware scans using VirusTotal and detecting permissions and third-party ad libraries included by the apps to try to determine the damage they can cause to the devices they are installed on. The results are pretty much telling. Of the 1 million apps examined, nearly 50,000 had some kind of resemblance to another, more popular app in the Play Store.

The researchers said they were able to find 2,040 potential fake apps containing malware in a set of 49,608 apps that had a high similarity to one of the top 10,000 popular apps in the Google Play Store. They also found 1,565 potential fake apps that had at least five more dangerous permissions than the original app, and 1,407 potential fake apps that contained at least five additional third-party advertising libraries, the study showed.

The good news on the other hand is that the Google Play Store removed 35% of the apps that were marked as dangerous, probably because Google removed them after discovering potential threats. But at the same time, 65% of the apps that were marked as dangerous still exist in the Google Play Store. While these results are certainly worrying, users themselves should also pay more attention to the apps before downloading. It is highly recommended to check the icon, description, and user reviews of any app before downloading, as these can help determine whether a certain app poses a risk to your Android device.