OnePlus has officially announced a new partnership with the App Defense Alliance (ADA), to improve the security of its smartphones. ADA is a cybersecurity organization founded by Google which monitors the internet for viruses, malware, and other online threats. OnePlus claims that it is the first smartphone manufacturer to join the ADA.
The App Defense Alliance includes collaborations with companies like Google, ESET, McAfee, Trend Micro, and more for Malware Mitigation. It helps the ADA to scan for malware on the web, even before it hits the Google Play Store. It establishes a two-way communication between Google Play Protect and other ADA partners to identify all kinds of Potentially Harmful Applications (PHAs).
According to OnePlus, the partnership with ADA will significantly improve the application safety in OnePlus smartphones, in addition to the security features of Oxygen OS. For reference, the latest version of Oxygen OS 14 comes with Device Security Engine 3.0, chip-level encryption, Auto Pixelate 2.0, Photo Management settings, and many other features which protect the privacy and safety of the personal data of OnePlus device owners.
OnePlus is yet to reveal the exact implementation of its ADA partnership on a per-smartphone basis. We are not sure whether this will roll out as a separate software feature with future updates, or will be remotely enabled by OnePlus through ADA’s partnership with Google Play Protect. The company is expected to disclose more details in the next few weeks.
The ADA also conducts security reviews of applications on the Google Play Store, to scan apps for any potential security threats. These apps get a special badge of ‘Independent Security Review’ in the app description section of the Google Play Store. Any issues identified by the ADA are immediately reported to the app developers, and most of these flaws are fixed within a month.
If you are a non-OnePlus user, you are not missing out on anything big. By default, the Google Play Protect system is present on all Android devices that scans for potentially harmful apps on not just the Play Store, but even for apps on your Android device that you install via third-party sources.
Samsung also has its proprietary security system called Samsung Knox, which creates a secure environment for apps on Galaxy smartphones.
Apple too offers Apple Platform Security on iPhones and iPads which integrates data encryption and other safety features under your single Apple ID.
