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ANDetect: A Third-party Ad Network Libraries Detection Framework for Android Applications

  • Liu Xinyu
  • , Jin Ze
  • , Liu Jiaxi
  • , Liu Wei
  • , Wang Xiaoxi
  • , Liu Qixu*
  • *Corresponding author for this work
  • CAS - Institute of Information Engineering
  • University of Chinese Academy of Sciences

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Third-party advertising libraries, which furnish mobile applications with ads, offer a revenue stream for Android application developers. However, the loaded ads potentially expose application users to privacy infringements and security threats. For instance, tracking scripts embedded in third-party ads monitor user behavior and can entice users into downloading malicious files. Therefore, the detection of advertising libraries in mobile applications is crucial for mobile security protection and serves as the foundation for preventing third-party ads from compromising user privacy. In this paper, we propose ANDetect, a tool specifically designed for identifying advertising libraries in Android applications. Utilizing static analysis of resource characteristics, ANDetect efficiently uncovers advertising libraries embedded in Android applications, thereby addressing the limitation of traditional third-party library detection methods that struggle with encrypted applications. ANDetect leverages a manual collection of 833 unique versions of third-party advertising libraries, combined with profiling and machine learning techniques. This approach utilizes distinctive semantic features in advertising and non-advertising libraries to identify advertising libraries outside of the established ad network database. We conducted an experiment using ANDetect on over 140,000 applications downloaded from Google Play and APPCHINA. Upon manual verification, it was revealed that ANDetect had detected a total of 16 noval advertising libraries, previously unregistered in the database. This underlines ANDetect's potency in enhancing mobile application security by identifying potentially intrusive advertising libraries.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationProceedings - 39th Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, ACSAC 2023
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery
Pages98-112
Number of pages15
ISBN (Electronic)9798400708862
DOIs
StatePublished - 4 Dec 2023
Externally publishedYes
Event39th Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, ACSAC 2023 - Austin, United States
Duration: 4 Dec 20238 Dec 2023

Publication series

NameACM International Conference Proceeding Series

Conference

Conference39th Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, ACSAC 2023
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityAustin
Period4/12/238/12/23

Keywords

  • Advertising behavior
  • Android
  • Encryption
  • Third-party library

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