On Thursday Google revealed a security service it developed, called Bouncer, which provides automated scanning of the Android Market for potentially malicious software, according to its website. The service works without disrupting the user experience or requiring developers to go through an application approval process.
With over 11 billion downloads of apps from the Android Market, Google’s new security feature is a welcome tool to combat scammers.
Just how does the service work? Google explains in its blog:
Once an application is uploaded, the service immediately starts analyzing it for known malware, spyware and trojans. It also looks for behaviors that indicate an application might be misbehaving, and compares it against previously analyzed apps to detect possible red flags. We actually run every application on Google’s cloud infrastructure and simulate how it will run on an Android device to look for hidden, malicious behavior. We also analyze new developer accounts to help prevent malicious and repeat-offending developers from coming back.
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About Emily Patterson
Emily Patterson comes to marketing and web design from a background in magazine journalism and international affairs.
After graduating from Ohio University’s Scripps School of Journalism, Emily took a copyediting position at China Daily, China’s largest English-language newspaper. After two years editing translations of news reports and government propaganda, she was offered a chance to launch a new publication. She worked with an international team of journalists to start Asia Weekly, a magazine with news and features from accross Asia. Emily also freelanced for several publications, including the Cleveland Plain Dealer, her hometown newspaper, and Time Out.
After returning to the US in 2008, Emily turned her eye for writing and design to the blossoming field of website design and management. For the past two years, she has worked as the Web Content Manager for the Better Business Bureau headquarters.
Emily lives in Alexandria, Va. with her husband and dog and is completing University of Virginia’s master’s certificate in online marketing. She loves to cook Asain food, hike and fall asleep on the couch watching movies.
On Thursday Google revealed a security service it developed, called Bouncer, which provides automated scanning of the Android Market for potentially malicious software, according to its website. The service works without disrupting the user experience or requiring developers to go through an application approval process.
This is all well and good, and a step in the right direction. However, signature detection is only effective against known malware. While this will weed out many script kiddies using a shotgun approach to infecting users, it won’t stop individuals who write new malware from scratch targeting a specific organization.
You said it yourself: 11 billion downloads of apps from the Android marketplace. Even if Google claims to manually review them in a sandbox, there is a bottleneck created from the simple fact that Google has fewer employees (and hours) than apps being run through the chute.
Nevertheless, it’s good they’re taking a step toward better fraud protection.
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