And now Google has painted an even bleaker picture as to the scale of the threat. “Based on our analysis of major fraud malware families that exploit sensitive permissions,” it has just warned in a new blogpost, “we found that over 95 percent of installations came from internet-sideloading sources.”

For three years, Google will have to let third-party Android app stores access the Google Play Store's catalog of apps "so that they may offer the Play Store apps to users," said the injunction issued by US District Judge James Donato of the Northern District of California.

Alphabet Inc. must lift restrictions that prevent developers from setting up rival marketplaces and billing systems that compete with its Google Play Store, a judge ruled, upending the search giant’s dominance in the lucrative Android app market and probably denting its revenue.