Android Introduces Bouncer to Eliminate Android Market Riff Raff
Google has announced a new security measure that should make the Android app ecosystem a little more secure. The project, code named “Bouncer”, aims to systematically analyze all new apps as they are uploaded to the market. In attempt to differentiate themselves from Apple, Google is quick to point out that the system does not require an approval period.
Here’s how it works: once an application is uploaded, the service immediately starts analyzing it for known malware, spyware and trojans. It also looks for behaviors that indicate an application might be misbehaving, and compares it against previously analyzed apps to detect possible red flags. We actually run every application on Google’s cloud infrastructure and simulate how it will run on an Android device to look for hidden, malicious behavior. We also analyze new developer accounts to help prevent malicious and repeat-offending developers from coming back.
Bouncer has actually been working behinds the scenes for some time now and its efforts to clean up the Android Market appear to be working. Google states that the number of potentially malicious downloads from the Android Market went down 40% between the first and second halves of 2011.
