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Previous updates to Google Play Protect encouraged users to run real-time app scans to better detect whether an Android app might be infected with malware. Once the scan was complete, the user was notified if it was safe to install.
Google’s director of Android security strategy, Eugene Leiderman, told CNA that Google Play Protect’s real-time scanning enhancements will be fully rolled out in Singapore in November 2023.
Since launching real-time scanning last October, Google announced it has helped identify more than 515,000 users. It is a potentially harmful app and has blocked or warned users about 3.1 million times when they tried to install such an app.
Victims of scams are often directed to download an Android Package Kit (APK) file. Through sources such as websites, messaging apps, and file managers.
“The public is advised not to download suspicious APK files onto their devices. It may contain malware that allows it to be stolen,” police said. In a recommendation from July last year.
Sideloaded apps typically ask for permission to read and receive SMS and notifications, allowing them access to your device.
Google says these permissions allow scammers to intercept one-time passwords from SMS and notifications, and to see what’s on your screen.
The tech giant’s latest security features are designed to monitor such permissions and block app installations, which are “often abused by fraudsters.”
“Based on our analysis of the leading fraudulent malware families that exploit these sensitive runtime privileges, we found that over 95% of installations come from Internet sideloading sources,” it added.
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