The most dangerous app store is one you probably never heard of

RiskIQ’s report highlights the top app stores globally with malicious apps and those with the most number of blacklisted apps.

Google Play Store also ranked in the top five for the most number of blacklisted apps. (Pixabay)

The two most popular app stores are Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store. But there are multiple app stores that exist besides these two. A new report by RiskIQ highlights these not so popular app stores but not in a good way. Among these, 9Game ranked number one as the app store with the most number of malicious apps.

RiskIQ's 2019 Mobile App Threat Landscape report lists the top five app stores where users are most likely to download a malicious app. 9Game tops the list followed by Feral apps and Huawei's VmallApps. Xiaomi also made it to the list ranking fourth followed by Zhushou.

Google's Play Store also made it to one list for the most prolific stores of blacklisted apps in 2019. Google ranked second with 25,647 malicious apps where 9Games again took the first spot. This is however a big drop for blacklisted apps in Google Play Store as the number was 108,770 in 2018. RiskIQ also highlights how Google's security controls are improving even though malicious apps are still finding a way to enter.

One app store that only received laurels was Apple's. "Apple treats its App Store like Fort Knox and rarely hosts dangerous apps," RiskIQ said. This isn't surprising as Apple has very strict a strict review process for apps that are available in its App Store. Apple also permits lesser permissions for apps as compared to Google.

RiskIQ also reiterated the fact that China's app market accounts for 40% of app spending making it way ahead of Google and Apple. The top three prolific app stores in 2019 were all Chinese.