The amount of Android malware was cut in half in 2014, according to Google

[Lord Sparklebottom]

Nobody likes malware, and it's nice to see that Google is fighting for an malware-free android platform.

 

Google has been cracking down on Android malware, and according to a new Android State of the Union report, it's starting to see real progress in the fight against harmful software. The new report says that the global rate of harmful software installs fell by 50 percent over the course of 2014. By Google's accounting, only 1 percent of Android devices had a harmful application installed in 2014, and for when devices only installed applications from the Google Play store, that number fell to .15 percent.

 

 

 

Those are broad numbers, based on Google's own definition of Potentially Harmful Applications, but Google is also offering a 44-page report for those seeking more details, covering everything from ransom ware to SMS abuse. "We thought it was really important to put as much data as we could out there," said Adrian Ludwig, the lead engineer for Android security. "I kind of apologize for the fact that it's 40-some pages, but hopefully next year it will be 150 pages and we'll get even more data." It's part of a larger ecosystem cleaning effort at Google, which also includes keeping an eye out for potentially harmful Chrome extensions. Last week, Google engineers announced they had disabled nearly 200 harmful extensions in Chrome, which collectively affected roughly 14 million users.

 

 

 

 

TL;DR:

Google has stepped up their game on removing harmful malware on their Android and Chrome platforms.

• Harmful apps installed has dropped 50%
• Only 1% of Android devices has in 2014 had a harmful application
• Google has released a 44-report with more details, and hope to make that report 150-pages long next year.
• Google engineers has disabled nearly 200 harmful extensions in Chrome, which had effected roughly 14 million users

 

Sources: http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/2/8327887/google-android-malware-report-2014-webview

[Lolzious]

My Galaxy Tab 10.1 used to get so cluttered with malware, I'd have to do a hard reset at least every 6 months

[qwertywarrior]

My Galaxy Tab 10.1 used to get so cluttered with malware, I'd have to do a hard reset at least every 6 months

u mean adware right ?

malware will normally remain unnoticed

[Lolzious]

u mean adware right ?

malware will normally remain unnoticed

Nope

Just shady apps that slowed down the OS

[Inkz]

Cool, but I think that if a person actually did research and picked Andriod then they would be smart enough to not get a bad app, although you can not have such a large audience without the majority being casual so it is still nice.

[ManIkWeet]

Lol, 50% less malware INSTALLED.

That's easy, no Android updates mean no re-installation of all the malware, it's already on there!