Ah, Android Malware and the Google Play Store. Like Kendall and Kylie, it’s hard to think of one without thinking of the other. Apps on the Play Store and Malware/adware seem to come in a bundle but not the kind that you’d necessarily want. To be fair, the Play Store is home to millions of apps and with its open source nature is a double edged sword in this sense.

That being said, Google has been amping up its campaign against malicious software in an attempt to clean up the Play Store for a while now. From pushing out security updates to banning major developers from the store due to ad fraud, Google aren’t messing about and its latest partnership is testament to that.

The company have today announced a partnership with cybersecurity firms ESET, Lookout, and Zimperium in a bid to catch apps that seem sketch before they end up on your devices. Dubbed the “App Defense Alliance”, the alliance will utilize each of the three partner’s scanning engines and integrate its Play Protect malware detection systems with it.

Android as a platform has has a pretty shaky past couple of months with wave after wave of malware attacks in recent months. With that in mind, the formation of the App Defense Alliance could not have come at a better time. Given our increasing reliance on smartphones to do everything for us, these attacks have proven quite lucrative for cybercriminals to carry out targeted campaigns. Here’s to the success of the App Defense Alliance.