Besides announcing the updated version of the Google Docs Android app, the official Google Mobile blog has also revealed its new service codenamed Google Bouncer. This tool has basically been developed to prevent malicious software or malware from infecting the Android Market.
The Bouncer service automatically scans the Android Market without creating disturbances in the user experience. Developers also need not go through an application approval process. According to the blog, this service has been constantly tracking the activities in the Android Market for detecting malwares. As a result, there was reportedly a 40 percent decrease in the amount of potentially-malicious downloads from the market during the time frame ranging from the first to the second half of 2011.
A set of analyses is performed by Bouncer on developer accounts and new applications as well as those already existing in the Android Market. Developer accounts are gauged to avoid comebacks of malicious and repeat-offending developers. The service instantly begins analyzing an application after it has been uploaded for known malware, spyware or Trojans and also compares it to previously analyzed apps for detecting possible red flags. Each application is run and simulated on Google’s cloud infrastructure to determine the way in which it would operate on an Android device and seek out hidden, malicious behavior.
Apart from the Google Bouncer service, the company also employs other strategies like a permission system and a technique called Sandboxing to secure the Android Market against malware.