ANDROID’S NEW REAL-TIME APP SCANNING AIMS TO COMBAT MALICIOUS SIDELOADED APPS

Summary from the TLDR InfoSec newsletter

Google Play Protect has launched a new feature that enables real-time analysis of an app’s code and blocks installation if it is determined to be malicious. Play Protect will recommend a scan for any never before seen app, including sideloaded apps. The authors of this article tested the feature with 30 different apps ranging from stalkerware to spyware to fake apps and loan scams and found that, while most were caught by the scan, the fake apps and some of the loan scams were allowed.