Apple App Store.
Credit: DH Photo/KVN Rohit
American technology major Apple announced that it has protected millions of people from falling prey to online fraud worldwide.
In the last five years, it was able to save a whopping $9 billion (approx. Rs 76, 791 crores) from reaching cybercriminals. In 2024 alone, it managed to safeguard $2 billion (around Rs 17,065 crore) worth the hard-earned money of people.
Apple's App Store, which is available in more than 170 nations globally, on average facilitates online transactions for 813 million visitors per day.
Compared to Android and Windows platforms, Apple's ecosystem is undeniably the safest, as it is safeguarded by a robust security system in place at its App Store.
It has several layers of security for early detection and elimination of threats ranging from deceptive apps designed to steal personal information to fraudulent payment schemes that try to hoodwink users.
Thanks to the advanced cyber security system, Apple was able to identify and terminate more than 146,000 developer accounts over fraud concerns and rejected an additional 139,000 developer enrolments in 2024.
Apple App Store is protected with advanced cyber security system to prevent online frauds.
Credit: Apple
This measure prevents bad actors from submitting their apps again to the App Store in the first place.
Not just rogue app developers, Apple was also able to block 711 million plus customers with criminal backgrounds from creating accounts and deactivated nearly 129 million customer accounts deemed malicious last year.
Besides independently vetting apps, Apple also keeps a close eye on ratings on apps. The real user reviews also offer telltale signs of apps not working as prescribed in their descriptions.
Some people also indulge in writing fake reviews and ratings to downrank genuine apps as well.
In 2024, Apple processed over 1.2 billion ratings and reviews and took action to combat fraud, removing more than 143 million fraudulent ratings and reviews from the App Store.
In the same year, Apple also removed more than 7,400 apps from App Store charts and nearly 9,500 deceptive apps from appearing in App Store search results.
Apple also keeps tabs on people who use stolen credit/debit cards to make purchases on apps. It also makes apps registered with the App Store offer safe, secure options to transact for in-app purchases.
Last year, the Cupertino-based company identified nearly 4.7 million stolen credit cards and banned over 1.6 million accounts from transacting again.
The company says that every transaction is authenticated with a user’s Apple ID, backed by an industry-leading fraud protection engine, and handled with end-to-end encryption.
Beyond the Apple App Store, Apple was able to shut down several illegal third-party stores from distributing malware-laced apps, pornography apps, gambling apps, and pirated versions of legitimate apps for iPhones, iPads and Mac devices.
While Apple is doing good work with robust security for its App Store, regions such as the European Union is forcing the company to open up the Apple ecosystem for users to install apps from third-party digital marketplace.
It is advisable for people to always install from the App Store only, as there is no guarantee that apps from third-party strone fronts to have resources to invest in good security.
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