A leading software testing platform has reported that Google Play Protect is not one of the most accurate malware detection apps. Google's own system scored the lowest, 6 out of 18, in three different AV-Test exam tests to verify its capabilities in protecting against malware threats. Google Play Protect is Android's main built-in anti-malware tool that is supposed to protect Android devices from installing malicious apps from the Play Store or otherwise. In addition to Play Protect, AV-Test has tested popular security apps such as Avira, Bitdefender, G Data, Kaspersky, NortonLifeLock, SK Telecom, and Trend Micro against nearly 6700 malicious apps to test their protection, performance, and usability.
Protection against malware
Google Play Protect was introduced over three years ago and is said to be active on over 2.500 billion Android devices. However, during testing, almost two-thirds of rogue apps went unnoticed by the platform, which could lead to these apps easily infecting devices. For apps less than 24 hours old, Google Play Protect was only able to detect 37% of suspicious offers, while Antiy, Bitdefender, Cheetah Mobile, NortonLifeLock, Trend Micro and Kaspersky returned results close to 100%. Google's product also received a It scores low when it comes to reporting applications that have been running for more than four weeks, as only 33% of this malware was detected. The test also noted that Google Play Protect has reported false positives 30 times, while other apps have also resulted in near-perfect performance in this category. The AV-Test researchers suggest that “Android users should not rely on Play Protect alone. Since the detection rates of Google Play Protect are quite low, it is recommended to use a good security application. "Google Play Protect scans more than 100 billion apps every day and even prevents malicious apps from being published on the Play Store. Last year, the company also joined the App Defense Alliance with ESET, Lookout, and Zimperium in an effort to protect the Android ecosystem.It's also not the first time that Google Play Protect has failed in AV-Test's searches.In 2017, the system was placed at the bottom of the mobile security tool table.