Ride the Lightning
Cybersecurity and Future of Law Practice Blog
by Sharon D. Nelson Esq., President of Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
Good News for Android Users – You're Safe if You're Smart
April 15, 2014
It is no surprise to anyone that 97% of mobile malware targets Android phones since it is the most widely used platform in the world. But as a recent story from BGR points out, if you ONLY download apps from Google Play, you are pretty darn safe. The latest study from F-Secure, which cited the 97% figure, also contained the news that, of all those mobile malware threats, only 0.1% came from Google Play, the official Android app store.
Google has obviously done a good job screening apps and it quickly kills apps with malware as they are reported. Malware in in Google Play has a very short shelf life.
If you go after some of the dirt-cheap Android phones from China, they may not come with Google Play pre-installed – that's a problem. So be smart and download apps only from Google Play. There's no guarantee, but your chances of downloading malware are slim.
Hat tip to Dave Ries for this reassuring news!
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