Google Expands Android Security

Google has announced that it is adding another major security layer to Android which will verify apps installed on device continuously. Android Apps are the new target for malicious individuals and Android has had instances of vulnerability due to the sheer number of Android apps that were popping up till last year because of the somewhat lax nature of Google’s app verification process after a developers sends in an app for inclusion on the Play store.

At this time, Android was still catching up with iOS on many aspects such as app design, app types etc. and the app submission process was not as much intensive as the one apple established. That changed with Android Ice Cream Sandwich and Google has been working on improving the security of the Android OS which runs most of the world’s smartphones. Till now, Google were screening each app submitted to the Play Store in a virtual manner to detect malicious intent of apps. Since apps can be side-loaded into Android also by bypassing the Google Play store, Now Google introduced a Verify Apps feature which asks you to verify the app when you install it as an .apk manually.

Verify Apps feature to run continuously on your Android device and thus monitoring application behavior or change in behavior. This means your device will be connected to Google Play servers continuously. When an app changes its behavior, the live verification process will pick up the changes and notify you about it. Constant monitoring of app behavior will reduced the potential of security related threats on Android as Google hopes.