Abstract
This paper explores the effectiveness and challenges of using monitoring techniques, based on Aspect-Oriented Programming, to block adware at the library level, on mobile devices based on Android. Our method is systematic and general: it can be applied to block advertisements from existing and future advertisement networks. We also present miAdBlocker, an industrial proof-of-concept application, based on this technique, for disabling advertisements on a per-application basis. Our experimental results show a high success rate on most applications. Finally, we present the lessons learned from this experience, and we identify some challenges when applying runtime monitoring techniques to real-world case studies.
The work presented in this paper is partially funded by Institut Carnot LSI.
This paper is an academic study of the effectiveness of using monitoring techniques on a large-scale and challenging case study. By no means it should be seen as an attempt to actually suppress advertisements in applications nor to jeopardize the source of income of the actors involved in the Android ecosystem.
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El-Harake, K., Falcone, Y., Jerad, W., Langet, M., Mamlouk, M. (2014). Blocking Advertisements on Android Devices Using Monitoring Techniques. In: Margaria, T., Steffen, B. (eds) Leveraging Applications of Formal Methods, Verification and Validation. Specialized Techniques and Applications. ISoLA 2014. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 8803. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45231-8_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-45231-8_17
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