Google Defends Android’s Security

When thinking of Android devices, “secure” may not be the first word that comes to mind for consumers. From malware threats to security flaws, the operating system and even its apps have had their fair share of troubles in the cybersecurity world.

But in the second annual release of its Android Security 2015 Annual Report, Google is coming to the defense of Android security.

“We’re working to foster Android security research and making investments to strengthen protections across the ecosystem, now and in the long run,” the company said, noting the recent addition of Android to Google’s Vulnerability Rewards Program and the launch of its monthly public security update program for the Android Open Source Project last year.

According to Google, its services have been enhanced to help protect Android users, adding that, “in the last year, we’ve significantly improved our machine learning and event correlation to detect potentially harmful behavior.”

The security blog states that Google has checked over 6 billion installed applications per day to ensure users are protected from malware and other potentially harmful apps (PHAs), scanned 400 million devices per day to protect users from network-based and on-device threats and safeguarded hundreds of millions of people using Chrome from unsafe sites.

“Greater transparency, well-informed discussions about security, and ongoing innovation will help keep users safe,” the post stated. “We’ll continue our ongoing efforts to improve Android’s protections, and we look forward to engaging with the ecosystem and security community in 2016 and beyond.”