an in-depth analysis of the risks hidden in the applications that users install on Android. It seems that the conclusions are quite reassuring, as the installation of an application goes through several “filters”.
More specifically, the data showed that less than 0.001% of installations (one in 100,000) lead to harmful results for the user. The collection of this data was based on “Verify Apps” and “Play Services”, which are applications that run on the Android operating system. 95% of devices have these protective functions enabled, which check the applications we install for possible harmful behavior.
In the image above you can see the series of filters that an application passes before being installed on your device. All devices have the ability to see what kind of permissions an application requests during its installation and to “run” it in a protected environment. The second filter is the Verify Apps that we mentioned, which checks if an application hides harmful behavior. The next filter comes pre-activated on all Android devices and prevents the installation of applications from unknown locations by allowing the use of only safe sources such as Google Play. This can of course be disabled, but users have no reason to do this as they actually install almost all their applications through the Google application.
According to the data, 0.5% of applications that are installed are checked by the operating system and judged as potentially harmful. Of these, only 0.13% are ultimately installed by users. Finally, only 0.001% of them manage to evade Android's security systems.
The operating system's security performance is impressive considering that all of the above does not include antivirus use. If you install additional antivirus protection, you will certainly be very safe.
Let's now take a look at what these malicious applications do:
-About 40% are "fraudware", that is, applications that exploit the capabilities of your mobile phone in order to get rich (e.g. sending expensive SMS).
-Another 40% concern applications that root your device by bypassing security systems, however, these applications are not really harmful but are used by the most "advanced" users.
-15% are spyware, that is, applications that try to steal your data.
-The remaining malicious applications fall into various categories.
Source: mydroid.gr
