Google releases new whitepaper detailing Android security upgrades across 2014

Google has released a new report detailing the security of the Android platform based on data collected from users over the course of last year. The 44-page document can be downloaded as a PDF from Google.

In the report, the company reveals that over a billion devices are currently protected by its Google Play store and accompanying software, which scan over 200 million devices each day for possible security flaws. Of all of the devices scanned, less than 1% had installed potentially harmful software, while devices that exclusively downloaded apps from the Play Store cut that number down to .15%.

Over the entire year, the number of “potentially harmful app” installations on Android devices was cut in half worldwide. There were 79 security issues reported by external agencies that were addressed by Google and its partners, while 25,000 applications were updated to address potential issues after they were discovered by Google Play.

During 2014, Google Play provided security checks prior to publication for all applications published to Google Play and millions of installs per day from outside of Google Play.

The full report covers this information and more in much deeper detail, along with a list of security enhancements that were made to the operating system in 2014. As noted above, you can download the entire document as a PDF for your perusal.

Earlier this year Google announced that it would implement a manual review process for applications submitted to its software store to help mitigate the influx of malicious apps. Other changes introduced last year included full-disk encryption enabled by default (usually) and more robust sandboxing with Security Enhanced Linux.