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Microsoft Promises to Block Malicious Android Apps from Reaching Windows Phones

A team will take care of blocking and removing these apps

May 2, 2015 17:10 GMT  ·  By
Malicious Android apps won't make it to the Windows store
   Malicious Android apps won't make it to the Windows store

Now that it's so easy to bring Android apps on Windows devices, everyone's wondering how Microsoft plans to tackle the security issues that could arise because of malicious software ported from Google's platform to Redmond's.

Microsoft is really serious about this and the company has created a dedicated team of engineers whose sole responsibility will be to discover these dangerous apps and block them from becoming available for Windows.

It's not a secret that Android users have been plagued by all kind of scams and malicious software, so with Microsoft making it so easy to port Android apps to Windows, cybercriminals could now target a bigger number of users with almost the same code.

Users will be able to report malicious apps

But Microsoft says that such a thing is very unlikely to happen because it has a team that monitors submissions and reports, and in case any such app arrives in the store, it should be instantly removed.

What's more, users will be allowed to submit reports to the company in order to check suspicious apps and identify those who might pose a threat to Windows devices.

“With users' permission, our monitoring systems look at malicious behavior from apps. Users have a direct channel to Microsoft to report malicious or suspicious behavior in any app and we have a team of security researchers who is monitoring our devices and the Android ecosystem to identify the latest threats and vulnerabilities,” Microsoft said in a session at BUILD on Project Astoria.

By bringing Android apps in the Windows store, Microsoft can finally tackle the lack of apps on its own platform, as developers are still reluctant to bring their apps on Windows Phone and Windows 8 because of the small market share.

But in Windows 10, porting an Android app for Microsoft's platforms will be a lot easier, as most of the code can be reused and only small tweaks would be necessary. Windows 10 is projected to debut during the summer, whereas the phone version should arrive in the fall of 2015.