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Google's Play Protect Identified Over 27 Million Harmful Apps Outside Play Store in 2025

Key Points
  • Play Protect identified over 27 million harmful apps outside the Play Store in 2025.
  • Google prevented over 1.75 million policy-violating apps from being published and banned over 80,000 developer accounts.
  • Over 255,000 apps were blocked from excessive data access, with over 10,000 security checks per app before publication.

Google reported on its security blog that Android's app ecosystem was protected in 2025. Last year, Play Protect identified over 27 million harmful apps outside the Play Store. 75 million policy-violating apps from being published in the Play Store and banned over 80,000 developer accounts for attempting to upload malicious apps.

The store also blocked over 255,000 otherwise benign apps from gaining excessive access to user data. Google states these figures highlight its preventive protections, with over 10,000 security checks conducted per app before publication, and apps continue to be monitored afterward.

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