Thanks to a new cybersecurity update, Android users can breathe easier knowing their devices are less vulnerable to malware. A partnership between Mandiant FLARE and Google boosts Android security with new app safety tools. These tools allow for faster malware detection, ensuring that the applications your employees add to their devices won’t put your company in danger of a data breach or other cyber attacks.
Increased App Protection Using AI
The updated app protection for Android relies on an enhanced Capa open-source binary analysis tool. In layman’s terms, the update makes it easier to detect and highlight suspicious code behaviors in a certain type of native file. The easier it is to identify potentially problematic code, the faster Google can take action to remove malicious apps and ensure Android-based ecosystems remain safe.
Gemini AI is instrumental in this process. In addition to identifying malicious code and deceptive behaviors, the team created new Android-specific rules to find cleverly hidden code faster. Gemini AI can then summarize the suspicious functions, determine their risk level, and provide insights into how the criminals develop, use, and hide the code. Ultimately, this means that your security team can find and address problems faster than ever.
Faster Malware Detection Is Just One Part of Google’s Multi-Layered Approach to App Protection
As Google boosts Android security with new app safety tools powered by AI, they represent one more layer in the company’s ever-evolving commitment to data protection and security. For example, Google Play Protect automatically scans every app on Android devices, no matter where a user downloaded it from, to protect users against malware and unwanted programs.
The system scans more than 200 billion apps daily in real time to catch hidden and emerging threats. In 2024 alone, this stopped over 36 million risky installation attempts on more than 10 million devices.
Additional Google Play Protect features that stop harmful apps from threatening your company include:
- Automatic reminders to re-enable Google Play Protect before installing apps from the internet, messaging apps, or file managers.
- Disabling the ability to turn off Play Protect during voice and video calls to stop social engineering attacks in which scammers trick users into turning off the feature to allow them to download a harmful app.
- Revoking permissions for potentially dangerous apps and strengthening privacy controls by resetting permissions on apps users don’t use frequently.
- Issuing security badges to applications that adhere to safety and security standards.
Keep Your Business Safe With Strict Application Policies
Even as Google boosts Android security with new app safety tools, it’s up to you to keep your company secure and implement policies that ensure your team isn’t using malicious apps that could create the risk of a data breach. A strict app protection policy that addresses approved apps for work devices, rules about the data employees can access via apps, and policies regarding remote device wiping are critical to keeping your company’s information out of the wrong hands.
