AV-TEST recently conducted a number of tests on several security apps for Android devices. The results were quite surprising, to say the least.
In total, there were 19 apps that were properly analyzed. The test was conducted on basis of protection, usability and features. A total of 6 points were allocated for the protection, 6 for usability and just 1 point for the features.
The maximum (and surprisingly full) score of 13 was achieved by 8 apps which included Avast Mobile security, AVG Antivirus Free, AhnLab V3 Mobile Security and 5 others. This remarkable performance should definitely make you consider one of these apps for taking responsibility of keeping your device secured.
Security packages from other apps such as Bitdefender, G Data etc. also managed to nail the test by scoring 12.5 points.
Now, coming to the most disappointing part of the result. Google’s built-in protection that you can easily find in Play Store, “Play Protect”, ended up obtaining the lowest score. It managed to rack up only 3 points for usability, and none for either protection or features.
In the task of detecting the latest Android Malware in real-time, the built-in protection was only able to tackle 62 percent of the malicious files. This is too low as the industry standard averages around 97.8 percent. Over the last month, some improvements were made and Play Protect managed to increase its score to over 69.2 percent but it still has a long way to go and cannot be considered as the ideal app for security.
In addition to that, Play Protect also gave out 189 false warnings while legitimate Android apps were either being downloaded or installed, making users suspicious about authentic apps.
You are recommended to check out the full scores of the tested applications (in the chart featured below) so you can get a better idea which app is the best for your Android device.
Read next: What you Should Know About Cyber Security In 2019 - More Fascinating Stats! [infographic]
In total, there were 19 apps that were properly analyzed. The test was conducted on basis of protection, usability and features. A total of 6 points were allocated for the protection, 6 for usability and just 1 point for the features.
The maximum (and surprisingly full) score of 13 was achieved by 8 apps which included Avast Mobile security, AVG Antivirus Free, AhnLab V3 Mobile Security and 5 others. This remarkable performance should definitely make you consider one of these apps for taking responsibility of keeping your device secured.
Security packages from other apps such as Bitdefender, G Data etc. also managed to nail the test by scoring 12.5 points.
Now, coming to the most disappointing part of the result. Google’s built-in protection that you can easily find in Play Store, “Play Protect”, ended up obtaining the lowest score. It managed to rack up only 3 points for usability, and none for either protection or features.
In the task of detecting the latest Android Malware in real-time, the built-in protection was only able to tackle 62 percent of the malicious files. This is too low as the industry standard averages around 97.8 percent. Over the last month, some improvements were made and Play Protect managed to increase its score to over 69.2 percent but it still has a long way to go and cannot be considered as the ideal app for security.
In addition to that, Play Protect also gave out 189 false warnings while legitimate Android apps were either being downloaded or installed, making users suspicious about authentic apps.
You are recommended to check out the full scores of the tested applications (in the chart featured below) so you can get a better idea which app is the best for your Android device.
Read next: What you Should Know About Cyber Security In 2019 - More Fascinating Stats! [infographic]
