What you need to know
- Google detailed an immense trove of security/privacy updates coming for Android, like improved scam protection during calls and with texts.
- Android will update its Factory Reset protections, which will restrict a phone's abilities if someone resets it without the owner's authorization.
- Google Play Services is upgrading its Live Threat Detection to better spot apps that have been altered maliciously, so users can delete them.
- Google's I/O 2025 is set for May 20 at 10 am PT (1 pm ET).
Get hyped; it's Google I/O season, and the company's new Android Show: I/O Edition is helping to fuel the excitement. It details everything new with your security.
In a press release, Google stated that there are a few ways it will look to strengthen your Android device's security and privacy for calls, texts, and more soon. The company states the Pixel 9 Pro ranks "highest" in Android security and anti-fraud efficacy. To further this, Google says it's first looking to enhance the ways your Android phone can shield you against phone scams.
To do this, Google states it's working on ways for Android's software to block "specific actions" and offer additional warnings against scam attempts. The post adds that all of this happens on your device for calls with people not in your contacts. What's more, if you're sharing your Android screen during a call and it ends, the OS will prompt you to stop sharing to avoid any unwanted attention.
Speaking of screen sharing, "enhanced in-call protection for banking apps" aims to stop fraud. According to Google, Android will soon warn users who've shared their screen while on a call when their banking app is launched. These warnings will occur with people outside of your contacts. The warning alert will inform users of the dangers, as well as offer a button to quickly end their shared screen session.
Google states this will roll out for supported banking apps on devices with Android 11 and higher. The pilot program is looking to grab U.K. banks first "in the coming weeks" before looking at a wider rollout.
Android looks to fight Fraud
Scam detection in Google Messages is receiving upgrades, as well as the introduction of the Key Verifier.
Regarding the former, the company says its AI-powered Scam Detection software in Messages has been refined to target additional malicious attempts. Such scams include toll road/billing, crypto, financial impersonation, gift card/prizes, technical support scams, and more.
The Key Verifier is a new feature Google is preparing to launch to better enhance on-device fraud protection. In short, the post says the Key Verifier will let users verify the identity of the person on the other side through "public encryption keys." An example where the Key Verifier can work is during a SIM swap attack. Google says this can happen when an attacker removes your friend's or family member's SIM card and places it into an alternate device.
If this happens, Google Messages verification of them will disappear, informing you visually that the person texting you is not who they claim. To verify contact keys, Google says users can do so via the Contacts app with a QR code scan or number comparison. The Key Verifier is expected to launch "this summer" on Android 10 and higher.
Look to Android 16
Identity Check left beta earlier this year, and quickly rolled out onto Pixel devices rocking Android 15 alongside the Galaxy S25 series (and One UI 7 phones).
The feature works by leveraging your biometrics with other safeguards to verify that the phone in question truly belongs to you. Google says it's working to extend this feature's availability to more devices through Android 16. Also, the feature's Factory Reset protections will get a glow-up, restricting all device functions that have been reset against the true owner's authorization. More control over Remote Lock is also expected "later this year" with the Factory Reset upgrade.
Android 16 will also do more to protect your one-time passwords by hiding them on your lock screen until you open your phone.
Next, Google's Advanced Protection program will bring "device-level" security to phones with Android 16. While this program was initially geared toward "high-risk" users like journalists and public figures, this extension of security will ensure more people can get in on Google's more robust security efforts to protect their data.
Step Up with Google Play Protect
Google Play Protection is preparing to introduce live threat detection that will inform users if a developer has maliciously changed or hidden their app icon. The feature will roll out to Pixel 6 and higher devices, as well as a "selection" of other phones, in the coming months."
The company concludes by stating it's updating the rules of its Live Threat Detection to better catch threats via apps. These bolstered changes are available globally for all Android devices with Google Play Services.
The Android Show's security and privacy updates are likely a prelude to even more Android OS announcements from Google later this month. Its I/O 2025 event is set for May 20 at 10 am PT (1 pm ET). There, we're expecting to see what's next with Android 16, Android XR, and much more.
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