When Apple launched the App Store in 2008, it was to establish a secure platform for users to download and discover apps and to provide app developers an opportunity to showcase their creations. The tech company even doubled down on blocking sideloading in 2021, much to the disdain of users. Well, it seems like all their efforts have been fruitful.
Apple announced today that the App Store has successfully stopped over US$2 Billion in fraudulent transactions in 2022. The company also rejected 1.7 million app submissions for failing to meet the App Store’s standards and requirements for privacy, security and content.
Account fraud has become a key focus for Apple. In 2021, Apple terminated over 802,000 developer accounts and another 428,000 accounts in 2022. The decline of fradulent accounts, according to Apple, where due to the new methods and protocols implemented to prevent the creation of such accounts. Another 105,000 Apple Developer Programme enrolements were also rejected for suspected fraudulent activities. Developer accounts were not the only type of accounts tackled. Over 282 million customer accounts were also disable for fradulent and abusive activity. 198 million attempted fraudulent new acccounts were also blocked before they could even be created.
These safety checks were no easy feat. App Review runs checks on submitted apps and ensures that it is free of malware and does not reference private API. App Review reviews over 100,000 app submissions per week, and in 2022, approved 185,000 apps from the 6.1 million apps submitted. Nearly 1.7 million of those app submissions were because these apps were either using malicious code with the potential to steal users’ credentials or were disguised as financial management platforms. 153, 000 of the rejected app submissions were also found to be spam, copycats or misleading. An upward of 400,000 app submissions were rejected for privacy violations.
With the prevalance of online shopping in this growing digital economy, Apple also placed heavy emphasis on preventing payment and credit card fraud. Apple’s consistent efforts to ensure that purchases via apple Pay remain safe to use blocked nearly 3.9 million stolen credit cards from being used, banned 714, 000 accounts from transacting again and prevented more than US$2 billion in fradulent transactions.
It seems that Apple’s efforts thus far have been successful and with the tech company promising to continue to develop new approaches and tools to prevent fraud, Apple users are likely in good hands in the years to come.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, for behind all this makeup, is a geek just like you. To simply put it, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter and all things gore and creepy makes this girly girl swoon.
HSALS
Si Jia
