A recent research conducted by NortonLifeLock shows that Google Play Store is the reason behind much of the malware that affects Android devices.
Researchers of the study carefully analyzed different sources that Android users used to install apps on their devices. Data was collected from users of about 12 million Android devices over the span of four months starting from June till September of 2019.
The researchers further studied 34 million APK (Android application) installs for 7.9 million unique apps. Results of the research revealed different classifications of Android malware, while 10%-24% of the apps were either estimated to be malicious or unwanted.
Finally, results showed that 67% of the malicious app installs entered the phone via Google Play Store. An interesting additional finding was that Play Store has a small threat-to-legitimate app install ratio (VDR) with only 0.6%, which suggests that majority of the defenses on Play Store for unwanted apps work fine, but some still manage to slip through the cracks.
This small VDR index has also led analysts to wrongly believe that malware enters devices through the opening of certain web pages or via alternative markets.
