173,000 fraudulent developer accounts were banned by Google last year, with more than 1.5 million apps blocked for not following the rules
OR Google revealed that it blocked 1.43 million apps for the Android operating system during 2022. The software had several violations of the Play Store terms of use and could be used in fraudulent activities or to violate user privacy; for the same reason, 173,000 developer profiles were also banned from the official store.
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In the case of accounts, the main reasons that led to bans are related to malware publication operations, digital scams or participation in fraud schemes. In the latter aspect, Google also claimed to have prevented losses of more than 2 billion US dollars, or about R$ 10 billion, by blocking irregular or abusive transactions carried out by malicious applications.
The numbers are part of an annual report released by Google, in order to bring transparency to the Play Store ecosystem and its attitudes towards user safety. According to the company, the total of nearly 1.5 million blocked applications are related to the automated protection systems of the market, with this volume detected even before publication, which would put users at risk.
Google has applied additional information verification measures
In 2022, the company also noted the implementation of additional verification measures for developer accounts, with the requirement of information such as valid email and mobile number drastically reducing creation attempts. Meanwhile, work with development kits and changes to data access and required permissions on smartphones also made at least one million Android apps more secure last year.
As part of these changes, approximately 500,000 apps were prevented from accessing sensitive permissions on users’ mobile phones. Google also draws attention to the blocking of more than 500,000 accounts abandoned by original developers, which could be compromised by criminals and used to publish suspicious apps on the Play Store. The total was obtained in the last three years.
In the report, Google also pledges to continue implementing changes and work closely with app developers to limit unnecessary access to data and keep users safe. Among the measures to be implemented are the changes in Android 14 that will prevent access to additional permissions by malicious software that uses older platform APIs, without the same protections.
Source: Google
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Source: Terra
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
