App Defense Alliance Migrates Under Joint Development Foundation with Google, Meta, and Microsoft as the Steering Committee

Technology Leaders Unite for App Security Across Ecosystems

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Google, Microsoft, and Meta announced they are formally partnering as the founding steering committee to improve app security through a newly restructured App Defense Alliance, under the Joint Development Foundation, part of the Linux Foundation family. The steering committee plans to expand the scope of the Alliance to foster collaborative implementation of industry standards for app security.

Launched by Google in 2019, the App Defense Alliance was established to ensure the safety of the Google Play Store and the Android app ecosystem by focusing on malware detection and prevention. With a growing emphasis on app security standards, the Alliance expanded its scope in 2022 and is now the home for several industry-led collaborations including Malware Mitigation, and App Security Assessments for both mobile and cloud applications.

The evolution of the App Defense Alliance under the JDF represents a significant step forward and demonstrates a shared commitment by the members to strengthen app security and related standards across ecosystems. With a member community spanning an additional 17 General and Contributor Members, the Alliance will support industry-wide adoption of app security best practices and guidelines, as well as countermeasures against emerging security risks.

"The App Defense Alliance will help further strengthen trust and confidence in overall app safety by uniting with others in the industry that share an unwavering commitment to protect users," said Dave Kleidermacher, VP of Engineering for Android and Made-by-Google Security & Privacy at Google. "I want to thank the other original founding members of the App Defense Alliance from when we started this back in 2019. Google will continue to partner with these mobile threat detection providers to combat threats while actively partnering with the App Defense Alliance and the community to help make apps safer for all users across ecosystems."

"Successful app ecosystems depend on trust," said Jenny Hall, Director of Reality Labs Trust at Meta. "The App Defense Alliance will help our industry work with community members to define open standards that help protect people and their data. This is a tremendous opportunity for stakeholders with diverse perspectives to work together in the interest of providing more security and trust to those who use apps regardless of the ecosystem."

"Trustworthiness of the app ecosystem is critical for end users and for the software industry," said Oliver Bell, General Manager, Trust and Privacy at Microsoft. "Through this alliance, we aim to help leverage the industry standards that empower developers and end users to build and trust the huge array of solutions in the third-party application ecosystem."

"The App Defense Alliance's move to the Joint Development Foundation reflects our dedication to open collaboration and innovation in the realm of app security," said Jim Zemlin, Executive Director at the Linux Foundation. "By uniting technology leaders and fostering an open ecosystem of cross-platform requirements, we aim to unlock new dimensions of performance and security for the benefit of our community."

The App Defense Alliance is committed to driving open collaboration and innovation in app security and invites interested organizations to explore membership. To learn more, including how to get involved, participate in discussions, and help shape the evolving role of the Alliance within the ecosystem, please visit https://www.appdefensealliance.org/.

View Full Release with Quotes from General and Contributor Members.

About the Joint Development Foundation
The Joint Development Foundation (JDF), part of the Linux Foundation family of projects, accelerates organizations developing technical specifications, standards, data sets, and source code. JDF provides the corporate and legal infrastructure, experienced support staff, and extensive network necessary to achieve the highest levels of industry and international standardization. For more information, please visit us at jointdevelopment.org.

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SOURCE The Linux Foundation