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Apple released new data about anti - fraud measures related to its operation of the iOS App Store on Tuesday good morning , trumpeting a title that it stopped over $ 7 billion in “ potentially fraudulent transactions ” across the four year between 2020 and 2023 .
More than $ 1.8 billion of that total was stopped in 2023 , per Apple , which is down from the$2 billion in potentially fraudulent transactions Apple reported foreclose in 2022 . It also said it block over 14 million stolen quotation cards and more than 3.3 million story from transact again between 2020 and 2023 .
As with any self - reported corporate metrics , the bearing is to shape a narrative : In Apple ’s case it ’s a longstanding claim that its mobile ecosystem sets “ the standard for security measure , reliability , and user experience ” , as itsblog postputs it .
It ’s deserving noting that parry - tale do exist , such as thedeveloper suit Apple settled back in fall 2022 , which had arouse complaints about unfair app rejection , scam and pretender .
The timing of Apple ’s web log post coincides — coincidentally or not — with thekick - off of Google ’s developer jaw , I / O. That ’s interesting because , in recent calendar month , Mountain View has been runninga pilot program of a new automated anti - fraud measurefor its own app store , Google Play , suggesting competition to burnish mobile security cred is heating up thanks to AI .
Apple ’s other press point on ecosystem integrity come from regulators . In the European Union the iPhone maker has , sinceFebruary , been forced into leave third - party app stores and app sideloading under the bloc ’s Digital Markets Act ( DMA ) . It must also let developers apply third - party defrayment tech ( rather than its own ) if they wish . Apple argues the DMA ’s enforced openness is weakening the security of its iOS ecosystem .
The “ fourth one-year fraud bar analysis ” Apple has published today offers a retrospective look at where its App Store ecosystem stood on stopping scams and other debatable behaviour before meddling EU regulators got involved .
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It also read like a marketing sales pitch to developers who , in the EU at least , have an increasing regalia ofchoices about how to distribute their apps , rather than being forced to submit to the Apple ’s App Store to reach iOS users .
App Store integrity in the frame
Reporting additional metric unit for 2023 , Apple read it pass up more than 1.7 million app submissions for failing to meet its “ rigorous ” standard for privacy , security and content . It also suppose its efforts to stop and reduce App Store fraud led to it terminating intimately 374 million developer and client account , and take “ close to ” 152 million ratings and reviews over fraud concerns .
Also in 2023 , Apple said it shutter close to 118,000 developer accounts — which its blog post note is a marked reduction from the 428,000 termination in the anterior year ( 2022 ) . It accredit “ continued improvements ” in preventing the introduction of potentially fraudulent accounts in the first seat with this decrease , without narrow down the changes it ’s made .
In further actions last year , Apple said it reject more than 91,000 developer enrollment for “ fraud concerns ” — preventing these accounts from submitting what it couched as “ elusive apps ” to the App Store .
Apple ’s App Review team has over 500 faculty who Apple enunciate are task with evaluating every app submission . “ On ordinary , the team reviews approximately 132,500 apps a week , and in 2023 , review virtually 6.9 mebibyte app meekness while help more than 192,000 developers publish their first app onto the App Store , ” it wrote .
Per Apple , the App Review workflow involves both automate processes and human reappraisal to seek to spot and block fraud and other hurt . In 2023 , more than 1.7 million app submissions were resist by Apple for “ various reasons , including seclusion rape and fraudulent bodily function ” .
“ spoiled actors employ deceptive tactics to harm exploiter , include the praxis of disguise potentially bad apps as innocuous one , ” the company write . “ Over the past yr , there have been numerous instances where App Review identified apps initially misrepresented as harmless products — such as photo editors or mystifier game — that later transform postreview into pirate movie streaming platform , illegal gambling apps , or fraudulent and predatory loan issuers . ”
“ In some extreme instances , the team also describe and removed financial service apps regard in complex and malicious societal engineering efforts design to defraud user , including apps impersonating known help to facilitate phishing campaign and that furnish fraudulent fiscal and investiture services , ” Apple total , noting App Store reviewers “ remove or rejected 40,000 apps from developers who engaged in bait - and - switch natural process ” across the year .
