DexProtector proactive malware defense

Malware or potentially harmful applications (PHA) are posing a huge problem. According to recent research, nearly 200,000 new banking trojan installers were detected in 2022 - double the 2021 figure. What’s more, generative AI is making it easier to spread malware and is helping to make social engineering (often the mode of attack in the first place) more convincing.   

That’s why an increasing number of security standards now focus on apps being able to detect, report, and mitigate malware attacks. 

As you might be aware, we released an early access version of DexProtector with malware defense (both detection and reporting) at the end of 2022. Since then, we’ve continuously improved our detection mechanisms and the quality of our malware database.  

But we can now announce an even more significant update in DexProtector’s anti-malware functionality. This includes our fastest ever PHA detection engine, a new and improved malware database including KeyLoggers, an extra dataset designed to detect Accessibility Service malware, the implementation of mitigation actions, and a transparent Alice Threat Intelligence integration.  

So, what do these changes mean? 

With the latest version of DexProtector running, your protected app can now react when malware is detected on your end user’s device. It can securely wipe all sensitive user data, including secret key materials in the Android keystore. This stops attackers from stealing this information (according to specifications such as NIST SP 800-124r2, HIPAA, and PCI MPoC). Your app will also be able to securely stop working while showing your end user a dialogue box communicating a dangerous situation that has been detected. The upshot of this is a holistic and proactive malware defense for your app.  

To implement this anti-malware functionality in DexProtector, you need to enable Alice Threat Intelligence. Alice gives you a clear view of the day-to-day threats your app is facing. As the dashboard to DexProtector’s trusted sensor, it shares attack data that can help you to improve your fraud scoring system and comply with industry regulations.

For more details, reach out to our technical support at primary@licelus.com.