Android Users Beware: This Is Why You Should Never Rely On Google’s Own Malware Protection

[Tiamati]

Althought, it seems AV-tests is trying to scare people to put their money in paid mobile AV, it's good to remember that Sophos offers a full suite for free (without ads) and Bitdefender free scans apps automatically for free too.

Google has been showcasing its built in malware protection for Android, Play Protect, this year with the slogan “securing 2 billion users daily.” But according to new research, this couldn’t be further from the truth.

The research, by independent testing organization AV-TEST found that Google’s Play Protect scan tool was only able to detect just over a third of malware samples from a total of 6,700. In other words, 4,000 examples of malware were able to sneak through Google’s own security protection.

The results were so poor that the researchers are warning Android users to install one of the other apps tested by the lab in addition to Google Play Protect. “The current test indicates that Android users should not rely solely on Play Protect,” the researchers said.

Google’s Android protection fails in false alarms too
It worked the other way too. The TEST-AV lab tested a “false alarm” scenario, where a security app will classify something harmless as malware. In the test of more than 2,000 apps from Google Play and 850 from other sources, Google also came behind the other security apps, falsely branding 30 apps as a threat.

“As the detection rates of Google Play Protect are really quite poor, the use of a good security app is highly recommended,” the researchers advise.

Although the apps with the maximum point score of 18 are all paid with annual license fees, TEST-AV thinks the cost is “worthwhile to users in exchange for their security.”

Android Users Beware: This Is Why You Should Never Rely On Google’s Own Malware Protection

Google’s built in protection for Android, Play Protect, is failing to pick up nearly two thirds of malware, according to new research. Here’s what you need to know.

www.forbes.com

 

[oldschool]

You nailed it. Either one of those is good.

 

[Ink]

Article is clickbait.

No one intentionally uses Google Play Protect as fully comprehensive Antivirus protection.

Update: The title chosen by Forbes can also be very misleading implying Google's other Malware Protection (Safe Browsing) should be avoided.

 

[Tiamati]

Article is clickbait.

No one intentionally uses Google Play Protect as fully comprehensive Antivirus protection.

Update: The title chosen by Forbes can also be very misleading implying Google's other Malware Protection (Safe Browsing) should be avoided.

I agree that Forbes "exaggerated" a little. But anyway, the article is good enough to call attention about the matter. A lot of people rely on Google Protect believing it's enough to advise them if they download a bad app. But last news have been proving that a lot of apps were available in google play store with very questionable activities and neither google removed them in time, or google protect marked them as dangerous. Cheetah Clean Master is a very good example of it... it had millions of downloads and an historical of bad activities for years, before google finally did something about it (and other 600 apps).

Anyway, i believe that for our friends here, a mobile AV would not be so necessary. But the recent apps removed from google store, and their absurd number of downloads, shows that - maybe - a mobile AV is not a bad idea for the average user.