Google Play Protect dead last in Android security ranking
Independent antivirus testing organization AV Test published its September 2017 rankings for Android antivirus solutions.
The organization has done so since 2013 by testing the protection and usability of Android security solutions.
While it is debatable whether antivirus solutions are needed on Android, it is clear that the platform is used to distribute malware.
Google's Play Store plays a central role in the Android world. It is installed on many Android devices, and most users download and install applications from it.
Google Play Protect is Google's security solution which the company added to the Play Store to protect Android users from malware.
Google describes the security feature in the following way on the official project website:
Google Play Protect continuously works to keep your device, data and apps safe. It actively scans your device and is constantly improving to make sure you have the latest in mobile security. Your device is automatically scanned around the clock, so you can rest easy.
AV Test ran Google Play Protect through the same series of tests that all other Android security solutions had to run through. The results are quite devastating for Google, as it got awarded no points for its protection functionality.
All other Android security applications that were tested as well managed to get a higher score. The security apps that got a perfect 5/5 score were: Antiy AVL, Avast Mobile Security, Bitdefender Mobile Security, Cheetah Mobile Security, G Data Internet Security, Kaspersky Lab Internet Security, McAfee Mobile Security, Norton Mobile Security, P Safe DFNDR, Sophos Mobile Security, Tencent WeSecure, and Trend Micro Mobile Security.
Google Play Protect managed to detect 65.8 of real-time Android malware samples, and 79.2% of malware that was discovered in the last 4 weeks. The Industry average is 95.7% and 98.4% respectively.
The security feature did get a perfect usability score however; false positives and warnings affect AV Test's usability score of applications.
Google Play Protect is also weaker when it comes to the features that it ships with. While it supports anti-theft, it does not offer other features such as encryption, backup, parental controls, safe browsing, or call blocking. These extra features are not part of the overall rating however.
Closing Words
The past has shown that Google's protective features of the company's Play Store -- and the company's Chrome extension store as well by the way -- are not sufficient to keep all malware and invasive applications out.
The security test highlights that Google Play Protect detects less malware than any other security solution for Android which AV Test tested (a total of 21 apps were tested).
Takeaway: don't rely on Google to keep you protected.
Now You: Is Google Play Protect the new Windows Defender?
Thanks for the tip Martin.
It is for these kinds of posts that I follow GHacks.
What’s up with the generic comment, are you a bot?
2G?
Where on the planet is that still in use? I was forced to give up using my RAZRV3 years ago because 2G was phased out by AT&T.
Everywhere 3G has been turned off and you don’t have LTE coverage, and believe me there are many developed countries where this is the case and if it weren’t for 2G you wouldn’t even be able to make a phone call.
Maybe I missed it, but I don’t believe tha term “2G” is in the article. Perhaps you are referring to “AGM G2”??
@Martin
Your website has gone insane.
When I the post button I then saw my comment posted on a different article page. When I opened this article again, it is here.
@Tachy @Martin Brinkmann
” Your website has gone insane. ”
Same here. Has happened several times.
@Tachy,
@Martin P.,
For over two weeks now,
I’ve been seeing “Comments” posted by subscribers appearing in different, unrelated articles.
https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572991
https://www.ghacks.net/windows-11-update-stuck-fixed-for-good/#comment-4572951
For the time being,
it would be better to specify the “article name and URL” at the beginning of the post.
@tachy a lot of non-phone devices with a sim in them rely on 2G, at least here in europe.
Usually things reporting usage or errors/alarms on something remote that does not get day to day inspection in person. They are out there in vast numbers doing important work. Reliable, good range. The low datarate is no problem at all in those cases.
3G is gone or on its last legs everywhere, but this stuff still has too much use to cancel.
Anyhow, interesting that they would put that in. I can see the point if you suspect a hostile 2G environment (amateur eavesdroppers with laptop, ranging up to professional grade MITM fake towers while “strangely” not getting the stronger crypto voip 4G because it is being jammed, and back down to something as old ‘stingray’ devices fallen into the wrong hands).
But does this also mean that they have handled and rolled out a fix for that nasty 4G ‘pwn by broadcast’ problem you reported earlier this year? I had 4G disabled due to that, on the off chance that some of the local criminals would buy some cheap chinese gear, download a working exploit and probe every phone in range all over town in the hope of getting into phones of the police.
>”While most may never be attacked in stingrays, it is still recommended to disable 2G cellular connections, especially since it does not have any downsides.”
The downside would be losing connectivity. I spend a lot of time way out in the countryside where there’s often no service or almost none. My network allows 2G, and I need it sometimes. I have an option on the phone to disable 2G, I may do that when I’m in the city and I have good 5G connectivity, but not out in the country.
I would imagine that the stingray exploits, like most of the bad things in this world, are probably things you will run into in the crowded big cities.
I stopped using it in a mobile (Wi-Fi line) environment, so I’m almost ignorant of the actual situation,
But the recent reality in Japan makes me realize that “the infrastructure of the web is nothing more than a papier-mâché fiction”.
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/17/google-chrome-to-enable-https-first-by-default-for-all-users/#comment-4572402
It is already beyond the scope of what an individual can do.
What we should be aware of is the reality that “governments and those in power want to control the world through the Web”, and efforts to counter (resist and prevent) such ambitions are necessary.
Why do you want people to disable the privacy features? Hmmmmm?
Now You: do you plan to keep the Ads privacy features enabled?
I’d like to tell you, but apparently if you make a post critical of Google, you get censored. * [Editor: removed, just try to bring your opinion across without attacking anyone]
@Martin
You website is still psychotic. Comments attach to random stories.
@Martin please do fix the comments, it’s completely insane commenting here! :[
@Martin
The comments are seriously messed up on gHacks now. These comments are mixed with the article at the below URL.
https://www.ghacks.net/2023/08/18/android-how-to-disable-2g-cellular-connections-to-improve-security/
And comments on other articles are from as far back as 2010.
What does this article has anything to do with all the comments on this article? LOL I think this Websuite is ran by ChatGPT. every article is messed up. Some older comments from 2015 shown up in recant articles, LOL
The picture captioned “Clearing the Android Auto’s cache might resolve the issue” is from Apple Carplay ;)
How about other things that matter:
Drop survival?
Screen toughness?
Degree of water and dust protection?