One of the most pervasive problems that is taking the world of Android by storm and is making it difficult for Google to maintain their status as Apple’s sole competitor in the smartphone OS market is the rather lax security on the Google Play Store. Because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up compromising user security in a really serious way, a lot of users find themselves unable to trust the Play Store.
Google developed a built in defense for Android called Google Play Protect, however it is important to note that this built in defense has not performed all that well. AV-TEST, a lab that tests out various antiviruses, has revealed that Play Protect shows subpar performance when it came to protecting Android users from the various kinds of malware that currently exist.
This is quite concerning since this malware protection software has been rolled out to billions of users. The test involved around fifteen Android malware protectors, and it took place over a period of six months starting in January and finishing just recently. Google’s Play Protect ranked last out of all of the defense software programs that were tested which does not bode well for the future of Android from a user security perspective.
Over the course of this test, Play Protect ended up only discovering about two thirds of the malware infected apps that were on the Google Play Store. This is quite awful when you compare it to the 100% success rate that a lot of other competitors in this field managed to attain. Avast got the topmost spot on this list with full marks in all categories, and Google’s last place finish involved it getting 0 out of a maximum possible 6 points in two categories, namely protection and usability. While it got full marks in the performance category, the fact that Play Protect failed in what is arguably the most important area is a dire sign.
What this basically means is that if you truly want to find a way to stay secure while using an Android phone, you might have to look into downloading a second security app. The fact that Google has failed to make its standard, built in malware protection comparable to offerings from other companies such as BitDefender is a sign that the company is not taking this problem all that seriously, something that could negatively impact how people perceive this platform in the future.
BitDefender, G DATA, McAfee, Norton LifeLock and Trend Micro all managed to detect 100% of all of the malware laden apps they were tested against. If you want a better understanding of how poorly Play Protect fared in this test, you should know that the second lowest percentage was 99.5% which means that virtually all of the apps except for Play Protect that were tested managed to offer more or less complete protection against various forms of malware.
What’s worse is that Google doesn’t seem to be interested in addressing this poor performance at all. When all of the malware protecting services manage anywhere form 99.5% efficacy (including Avast, AVG, Kaspersky, Avira) all the way to a solid 100%, a tech company that only offers a meager 68.8% protection is not going to fare all that well. This is another example of how Google often attempts to use its various monopolies to prop up products that are not worthy of consumer usage, and the company will have to work really hard to up the ante in this regard. Android users are not going to tolerate this level of insecurity for much longer, and while Google enjoys the benefits of its duopoly with Apple right now this is not always going to hold true in the future.
Read next: Top internet scams from the last 3 months, that you should look out for
Google developed a built in defense for Android called Google Play Protect, however it is important to note that this built in defense has not performed all that well. AV-TEST, a lab that tests out various antiviruses, has revealed that Play Protect shows subpar performance when it came to protecting Android users from the various kinds of malware that currently exist.
This is quite concerning since this malware protection software has been rolled out to billions of users. The test involved around fifteen Android malware protectors, and it took place over a period of six months starting in January and finishing just recently. Google’s Play Protect ranked last out of all of the defense software programs that were tested which does not bode well for the future of Android from a user security perspective.
Over the course of this test, Play Protect ended up only discovering about two thirds of the malware infected apps that were on the Google Play Store. This is quite awful when you compare it to the 100% success rate that a lot of other competitors in this field managed to attain. Avast got the topmost spot on this list with full marks in all categories, and Google’s last place finish involved it getting 0 out of a maximum possible 6 points in two categories, namely protection and usability. While it got full marks in the performance category, the fact that Play Protect failed in what is arguably the most important area is a dire sign.
What this basically means is that if you truly want to find a way to stay secure while using an Android phone, you might have to look into downloading a second security app. The fact that Google has failed to make its standard, built in malware protection comparable to offerings from other companies such as BitDefender is a sign that the company is not taking this problem all that seriously, something that could negatively impact how people perceive this platform in the future.
BitDefender, G DATA, McAfee, Norton LifeLock and Trend Micro all managed to detect 100% of all of the malware laden apps they were tested against. If you want a better understanding of how poorly Play Protect fared in this test, you should know that the second lowest percentage was 99.5% which means that virtually all of the apps except for Play Protect that were tested managed to offer more or less complete protection against various forms of malware.
What’s worse is that Google doesn’t seem to be interested in addressing this poor performance at all. When all of the malware protecting services manage anywhere form 99.5% efficacy (including Avast, AVG, Kaspersky, Avira) all the way to a solid 100%, a tech company that only offers a meager 68.8% protection is not going to fare all that well. This is another example of how Google often attempts to use its various monopolies to prop up products that are not worthy of consumer usage, and the company will have to work really hard to up the ante in this regard. Android users are not going to tolerate this level of insecurity for much longer, and while Google enjoys the benefits of its duopoly with Apple right now this is not always going to hold true in the future.
Read next: Top internet scams from the last 3 months, that you should look out for
