Google Announces App Defense Alliance

Google, in partnership with ESET, Lookout, and Zimperium, has announced the creation of the App Defense Alliance, which intends to analyze apps for security before they can be published on the Google Play Store.

According to a blog post announcing the alliance, the Google Play Protect detection systems will be integrated with each of the partner's scanning engines. Google wrote that it "hand-picked these partners" based on their success and technology and will use the aggregate combination of machine learning and static/dynamic analysis to detect malicious or abusive behavior in new apps.

Any App Defense Alliance partner can send an app analysis request to the Google Play Protect scanner service. The results of that scan will then be sent back to the requesting partner for further analysis. Decisions on publication or quarantine will be based on the combination of intelligence.

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