According to RiskIQ "2019 Mobile App Threat Landscape report," the app store that hosted the most malicious apps in 2019 was 9Game.
9Game is a portal that allows users to download free Android games. However, it was found to be the app store with the most malicious apps (overall) and the most additions of new malicious apps.
According to the report, during 2019, 61,669 new malicious applications to 9Game.
The Google Play Store came in second place on the list of most new malicious app additions. But the gap with 9Game was very large. The Google Play Store was found with 25,647 new malicious apps . The top five is completed by Qihoo 360's Zhushou , the Feral app store and Huawei 's Vmall app store .
However, the Play Store was not found in the list of app stores with the highest concentration of malicious apps. This category includes: (1) 9Game, (2) Feral app store, (3) Vmall app store, (4) Xiaomi app store , and (5) Zhushou store.
RiskIQ: Absence of Apple 's App Store
RiskIQ researchers noted that 's app store Apple was not on either list. This is likely a result of Apple's thorough and individual app review process, which helps to more easily identify malicious apps. In contrast, most stores use automated processes.
"Apple treats its App Store like Fort Knox and rarely hosts dangerous apps," RiskIQ said.
“But Google ’s security checks are also constantly improving… the number of blacklisted apps on the Play Store decreased by 76.4% in 2019,” the security firm added.
According to RiskIQ, the number of malicious apps observed globally in 2019 decreased by 20% compared to 2018 (from 213,279 to 170,796 apps).
More new apps appear in China
The researchers noted that the downward trend in malicious apps is surprising, as more and more apps are appearing. The company said that about 8.9 million new apps were uploaded to app stores in 2019 (18% more than in 2018).
RiskIQ says that most of these new apps (“clean” and malicious) come from Chinese developers.
According to RiskIQ, in 2019, the top 3 app stores, in terms of new app downloads, were from China: APK GK (1,687,757 new apps), APK Pure (890,479 new apps), and Android Apps APK (809,818 new apps).
Google (714,678 new apps) and Apple (465,676 new apps) were in fourth and fifth place respectively.
