There are over 200,000 apps in the Android Market as of this month and that is up sharply from 50,000 a year ago. Whenever you have growth like that you are going to see the bad side of it. Along with all the new apps this year, Google is seeing an increase in malware as well. Google likes to keep things “open source” and this might be a direct result of that. Compared to the Apple iTunes App Store, Android is seeing a lot more malware.
One study by the Juniper Networks showed an increase of 400 percent and that was enough to give the Android Market the title of “biggest distribution point for malware on mobiles”. This is not a good thing for Google, whose name is typically clean and popular with tech folk. There is one app that has been accused of infecting 50,000 Android uses alone.
Google has taken steps to try and clean up the app marketplace, finally putting anti-virus programs out there to help combat the malware. Webroot also put out a free and paid version, called Webroot Mobile Security, which is available in the Android Market. The software will scan the apps before you install them to make sure they are safe, will scan any web link to check for phishing attacks and can be used to remove all information from a phone should it be stolen. AVG has also added an Android anti-virus program to the mix.
Google was asked if an anti-virus program was needed or desired since the malware attacks began and there was not a confirmed response to the question. The company did add that any and all apps that are in violation of the terms are removed from the Android Market as soon as possible.
Google’s app market is getting very popular and through the last month or more they have done a lot to upgrade their mobile devices so that users can continue to download apps. Over 400,000 new Android devices are activated every single day. That is way up from 100,000 per day this time last year. Google just had their developer’s conference and there they announced that over 100 million Android devices have been activated.
The company also mentioned briefly the new version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, is designed from the best Honeycomb parts and brings the update to the Smartphone. Google hopes to one day have their Android platform power everything from light bulbs and appliances to sound systems.
