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Google: Less Than One Percent of Android Devices Are Affected By Harmful Apps

Posted by Soulskill on from the two-nines-security dept.

jfruh writes: One of the selling points of iOS is that its more restrictive nature makes it more secure. But even though it's easier for users to accidentally install malicious apps on Android, data collected by Google (PDF) indicates that less than one percent of Android users have actually done so. Quoting: "During October 2014, the lowest level of device hygiene was 99.5% and the highest level was 99.65%, so less than 0.5% of devices had a Potentially Harmful Application (PHA) installed (excluding non-malicious Rooting apps). During that same time period, approximately 0.25% of devices had a non-malicious Rooting application installed. ... Worldwide, excluding non-malicious Rooting applications, PHAs are installed on less than 0.1% of devices that install applications only from Google Play. Non-rooting PHAs are installed on approximately 0.7% of devices that are configured to permit installation from outside of Google Play. Additionally, the second graph shows devices with any PHA (including Rooting applications). Rooting applications are installed on about 0.5% of devices that allow sideloading of applications from outside of Google Play."

1 of 91 comments (clear)

  1. Re:A less biased source please? by Aighearach · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Even in F-Droid, over half the apps want to read my device ID and permission to record all my calls and contacts, and less than 1% have a legit reason for that info. The vast majority of apps in their walled garden don't actually need any special permissions at all to do whatever the app does, or maybe 1 permission. Find an app that has only the permission it needs. Good luck, hope you ate a big breakfast before you started searching.

    How is tracking me with nothing given in return not "harmful?" My privacy has value to me, surely. The claim that there is no harm relies on the known lie that my privacy has no value to me.

    The honest truth is that they think less than 1% of android apps do harm that doesn't benefit google . That is actually a different thing than what they're saying, though. So I call lie .