Stay informed on Google Play's latest information security updates, threats, and protections with in-depth news and expert analysis.
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Background for this topic.
Google Play is Google’s official distribution platform for Android applications and games. It also provides related controls, including app review, developer signing and release mechanisms, and Google Play Protect, which checks applications for known or suspected harmful behavior before and after installation. Its security role concerns the apps and updates delivered through the store, not the security of every Android device or application.
Security practitioners monitor Google Play because malicious, deceptive, repackaged, or vulnerable applications can reach users through legitimate-looking listings and request excessive permissions or collect sensitive data. Store review and automated scanning reduce exposure but do not guarantee that an app is safe; newly discovered vulnerabilities, compromised developer accounts, and harmful updates remain relevant attack surfaces. Defenders should assess an application’s provenance, permissions, requested data, update history, and vendor security response, while using Play Protect and device-management controls where appropriate. Google Play vulnerability and policy advisories can therefore inform application allowlisting, remediation, privacy reviews, and removal decisions.
Multiple unpatched vulnerabilities have been discovered in three Android apps that allow a smartphone to be used as a remote keyboard and mouse
Multiple unpatched vulnerabilities have been discovered in three Android apps that allow a smartphone to be used as a remote keyboard and mouse
More than 300,000 users across 71 countries have been victimized by a new Android threat campaign called the Schoolyard Bully Trojan
More than 300,000 users across 71 countries have been victimized by a new Android threat campaign called the Schoolyard Bully Trojan
Note to self: Lenders don’t need the contact list on your mobile device Almost 300 apps, downloaded by around 15 million users, have been pulled from the Google Play and Apple App stores over claims they promised quick loans at reasonable rates but then used extortion and other predatory schemes against borrowers.…
Over 280 Android and iOS apps on the Google Play and the Apple App stores trapped users in loan schemes with misleading terms and employed various methods to extort and harass borrowers. [...]
A malicious Android SMS application discovered on the Google Play Store has been found to stealthily harvest text messages with the goal of creating accounts on a wide range of platforms like Facebook, Google, and WhatsApp
A malicious Android SMS application found on the Google Play Store has been found to stealthily harvest text messages with the goal of creating accounts on a wide range of platforms like Facebook, Google, and WhatsApp
A fake Android SMS application, with 100,000 downloads on the Google Play store, has been discovered to secretly act as an SMS relay for an account creation service for sites like Microsoft, Google, Instagram, Telegram, and Facebook [...]