2023: 600 Million Downloads of Malicious Android Apps – Beware of These Dangerous Apps!

Google says it’s doing everything it can to fight malware on Android, but a new security report suggests the company isn’t doing much to prevent the problem. In fact, Kaspersky’s report states that Android users will download more than 600 million malicious apps from the Google Play Store in 2023.

This is an amazing figure for a platform like Android, which has billions of active devices around the world. The report doesn’t say whether the apps were downloaded on a smartphone or tablet, but we’re guessing the 600 million figure likely includes both platforms.

Google has repeatedly said that anti-malware is at the top of its agenda, and the Play Protect feature is said to offer protection against such dangerous apps, but the security company’s findings suggest that fighting malware is more difficult than anyone imagines, including Google.

The company also points out that most of these apps enter the Play Store unscanned without raising an alarm, but with subsequent updates, these apps are infected with malware, making them a potential nightmare for phone users who may lose their confidential data, e.g. matters without notifying you of such actions.

Kaspersky says the malware problem on Android has been around for years, but apps like iRecorder have demonstrated the mastery and sophistication of attackers who are now able to bypass Google’s app store security checks and continue to dominate the App Store, allowing millions to download them.

Apps like Beauty Slimming Photo Editor, Photo Effect Editor, and GIF Camera Editor Pro show attackers that they know what people want to use on their phones today, and then offer them options that give them all the features but also hamper them with malware. These three apps alone have recorded over 600,000 installs on Android. But that’s not all, you also had malicious Minecraft clone apps that contained hidden ads that could be the source of your device’s infection.

How to avoid downloading malicious apps on Android

Google continues to build systems to suppress these dangerous apps, but there are some ways Android users can avoid falling victim to these apps.

– Check the publisher of the application – If the application is not developed by a well-known company, we recommend avoiding installing the application.

– Scroll down the app list and find comments from different users. App reviews can be subjective and hard to read, but all negative comments show the real picture.

– If people say that the app drains the battery or causes other problems, avoid downloading such apps.