New Google report shows Android security is improving

Today Google published its third annual Android Security Year in Review, the day after the launch of the developer preview of Android O. Looking back at 2016, the report details the steps the company has taken to keep Android users and their data safe. Google cites a crackdown on Potentially Harmful Apps as a particular success, and points to the fact that security updates have been issued to 735 million devices.

But it’s not all good news. Many of the security improvements are to be found in Android 7 Nougat which is only available on a limited number of devices. Additionally, a large number of handsets are not eligible for the monthly security updates the company pushes out.

Google has been working with manufacturers, developers and researchers to bolster security on more devices than ever. The company has done a lot to improve the security of Google Play and says that the store is by far the safest place to download Android apps. It shares some figures about the improvements that have been made over the last 12 months:

• Now 0.016 percent of installs, trojans dropped by 51.5 percent compared to 2015
• Now 0.003 percent of installs, hostile downloaders dropped by 54.6 percent compared to 2015
• Now 0.003 percent of installs, backdoors dropped by 30.5 percent compared to 2015
• Now 0.0018 percent of installs, phishing apps dropped by 73.4 percent compared to 2015
• By the end of 2016, only 0.05 percent of devices that downloaded apps exclusively from Play contained a PHA; down from 0.15 percent in 2015

In a blog post introducing the report Melinda Miller from the Android security team says:

In 2016, we released many enterprise capabilities to strengthen Android security, such as "always-on" VPN, security policy transparency, process logging, improved WiFi certification handling and client certification improvements. Android's security and management features are simple to use for businesses of any size, with powerful tools for admins.

Overall, we improved our abilities to stop dangerous apps, built new security features into Android 7.0 Nougat and collaborated with device manufacturers, researchers and other members of the Android ecosystem.

The results have been tangible. We saw dramatic decreases in Potentially Harmful Apps (PHAs) that may put users' data or devices at risk, worked with partners to improve security device update rates and grew our Android Security Rewards program.

There has actually been a slight increase in the number of PHA installations. By the end of 2015, Google says the number stood at 0.5 percent of devices, and by the end of 2016 it was 0.71 percent. For the year ahead, Google has great plans:

Looking forward to 2017, we’re working to increase the number of patched Android devices and accelerate adoption of key platform security features. We believe that advances in machine learning and automation can help reduce PHA rates significantly in 2017, both inside and outside of Google Play.

You can check out the full report if you want to read more detail.

Google has also published a webinar covering the Android Security Year in Review. The video is presented by Director of Android Security, Adrian Ludwig, and you can watch it below: