Security News

Google purges 600 Android apps for “disruptive” pop-up ads
2020-02-24 12:26

You know those ads that obscure your whole screen when you're trying to make a phone call, unlock your device or use your phone's GPS? Technically, they're called disruptive or out-of-app ads, and they maddeningly pop up outside of the app that hosts them, sometimes causing users to mistakenly click them, thereby frustrating users and wasting advertisers' money. On Thursday, Google kicked nearly 600 of the offending apps off its Play store and banned them from its ad monetization platforms, Google AdMob and Google Ad Manager, for violating its disruptive ads policy and disallowed interstitial policy.

Google Removes 600 Android Apps for Displaying Disruptive Ads
2020-02-21 16:36

Google has removed roughly 600 applications from Google Play for violating its ad-related policies, the Internet search giant announced this week. The company banned them from Google AdMob and Google Ad Manager, its ad monetization platforms.

Microsoft Brings Defender Antivirus for Linux, Coming Soon for Android and iOS
2020-02-21 16:36

Almost within a year after releasing Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection for macOS computers, Microsoft today announced a public preview of its antivirus software for various Linux distributions, including Ubuntu, RHEL, CentOS and Debian. If this news hasn't gotten you excited yet.... Microsoft is also planning to soon release Defender ATP anti-malware apps for smartphones and other devices running Google's Android and Apple's iOS mobile operating systems.

Google Bans 600 Android Apps from Play Store for Serving Disruptive Ads
2020-02-21 09:05

Google has banned nearly 600 Android apps from the Play Store for bombarding users with disruptive ads and violating its advertising guidelines. Back in 2018, Cheetah Mobile was accused of turning smartphones into stealthy click farms to engage in ad fraud, leading Google to ban a bunch of its apps from the Play Store.

Microsoft Brings Defender Antivirus for Linux, Coming Soon for Android and iOS
2020-02-21 08:50

Almost within a year after releasing Microsoft Defender Advanced Threat Protection for macOS computers, Microsoft today announced a public preview of its antivirus software for various Linux distributions, including Ubuntu, RHEL, CentOS and Debian. If this news hasn't gotten you excited yet.... Microsoft is also planning to soon release Defender ATP anti-malware apps for smartphones and other devices running Google's Android and Apple's iOS mobile operating systems.

Google Bans 600 Android Apps from Play Store for Serving Disruptive Ads
2020-02-21 01:05

Google has banned nearly 600 Android apps from the Play Store for bombarding users with disruptive ads and violating its advertising guidelines. Back in 2018, Cheetah Mobile was accused of turning smartphones into stealthy click farms to engage in ad fraud, leading Google to ban a bunch of its apps from the Play Store.

Google exiles 600 apps from Play Store for 'disruptive advertising' amid push to clean up Android souk's image
2020-02-21 00:36

On Thursday Google confirmed it has removed nearly 600 Android apps from the Google Play Store and banned them from its ad services for violating its policies on disruptive advertising and interstitials. Such purges have become a regular occurrence on platforms where third-party developers are afforded some freedom, like Google Play, the Chrome Web Store, and even the iOS App Store.

Google Bans 600 Android Apps for Obnoxious Ads
2020-02-20 21:35

Google has removed nearly 600 Android apps from the Play Store for serving up obnoxious, invasive ads that aren't easily "x'd" out of. Google said Thursday that the apps violated its disruptive ads policy - and are therefore also banned from Google's ad monetization platforms, Google AdMob and Google Ad Manager.

Google Removes Mideast Android App ToTok
2020-02-18 18:39

For the second time within two months, Google has removed United Arab Emirates-developed messaging application ToTok from Google Play. At the end of December, the popular mobile application was removed from both the Google Play marketplace and Apple's App Store, after The New York Times reported that the UAE government was using it to spy on users.

Android facial recognition is more secure than you think
2020-02-14 15:11

After running real-world tests of Android's facial recognition on a Pixel 4, Jack Wallen shares his theory of why some people are so concerned about facial recognition. My TechRepublic article How to enable facial recognition in the BitWarden mobile password manager wound up receiving feedback about Android facial recognition-not BitWarden.