Three tech giants, Google, Microsoft, and Meta have formed a steering committee to improve app security across the globe through a newly restructured App Defense Alliance.
Launched by Google in 2019, the App Defense Alliance was established to ensure the safety of the Google Play Store and the Android app ecosystem by focusing on malware detection and prevention.
The platform is now being strengthened with Microsoft and Meta joining Google to drive the implementation across all apps.
The steering committee comprising the three companies plans to expand the scope of the Alliance to foster collaborative implementation of industry standards for app security.
According to a statement issued by the Linux Foundation, the evolution of the App Defense Alliance represents a significant step forward and demonstrates a shared commitment by the members to strengthen app security and related standards across ecosystems.
What they are saying
Commenting on the new steering committee formed by the trio, VP of Engineering for Android and Made-by-Google Security & Privacy at Google, Dave Kleidermacher, said:
- “The App Defense Alliance will help further strengthen trust and confidence in overall app safety by uniting with others in the industry that share an unwavering commitment to protect users, I want to thank the other original founding members of the App Defense Alliance from when we started this back in 2019. Google will continue to partner with these mobile threat detection providers to combat threats while actively partnering with the App Defense Alliance and the community to help make apps safer for all users across ecosystems.”
The Director of Reality Labs Trust at Meta, Jenny Hall, also said:
- “Successful app ecosystems depend on trust. The App Defense Alliance will help our industry work with community members to define open standards that help protect people and their data. This is a tremendous opportunity for stakeholders with diverse perspectives to work together in the interest of providing more security and trust to those who use apps regardless of the ecosystem.”
General Manager, of Trust and Privacy at Microsoft, Oliver Bell, added:
- “Trustworthiness of the app ecosystem is critical for end users and for the software industry. Through this alliance, we aim to help leverage the industry standards that empower developers and end users to build and trust the huge array of solutions in the third-party application ecosystem.”
- “The App Defense Alliance’s move to the Joint Development Foundation reflects our dedication to open collaboration and innovation in the realm of app security. By uniting technology leaders and fostering an open ecosystem of cross-platform requirements, we aim to unlock new dimensions of performance and security for the benefit of our community,“ said Jim Zemlin, Executive Director at the Linux Foundation.
The App Defense Alliance said it is committed to driving open collaboration and innovation in app security and invites interested organizations to explore membership.
