Security researchers have created a new app that they say is much better at detecting malicious apps than the existing inspection systems used by various Android markets around the world.
During the investigation, over 127,429 thousand suspicious applications were found in 33 Android app markets. Most worryingly, 30,552 malicious applications were found in the Google Play Store, representing 7.61% of the total 401,549 applications available in the online store.
MassVet, as the tool is called, can not only scan an application in less than ten seconds, but it also surpassed all 54 VirusTotal in terms of detection coverage, identifying 34,026 new malicious applications.
MassVet comes with a new approach to app control.
Compared to Google's service, Bouncer and all other similar application control systems used by other markets, MassVet does not analyze the source code of the application and its activities in a simulated environment. What it does is compare the applications with other similar applications in the Android market or analyze their database. In this way, it detects possible cases of repackaging, a technique used by attackers to hide tiny pieces of malicious code inside legitimate applications.
“These fake apps are built for two reasons,” the researchers say, “either to collect ad revenue or to spread malware.”
Below is a new MassVet demo video, with the full results of the show broken down by market.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbVLzR8MDWQ
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