Google Play Store contained by far the greatest number of blacklisted apps in 2018, with more than 76,000 being flagged as risky, cybersecurity company RiskIQ reported.

Blacklisted apps were described as those with “a host of familiar threats such as brand imitation, phishing, and malware” and which match with at least one registry such as VirusTotal, which inspects files and web pages.

Play Store apps accounted for 45 per cent of all apps blacklisted in 2018, RiskIQ said. The figure makes sense considering Google Play also added the most apps of any store in 2018 (1,102,703) , more than double that of the App Store (479,188).

In second place on the app marketplace blacklist was 9Apps, which accounted for about 12 per cent of the total. This was followed by feral apps – those observed on the open web outside of any store – at 11 per cent. Apple’s App Store did not feature on the list.

“The size, scope, and complexity of the global app ecosystem make it difficult for organisations to map and monitor their mobile presence and protect their customers and employees from bad actors,” the report said, adding RiskIQ monitors more than 120 mobile app stores around the world.

Earlier this month Google removed 85 apps from its Play Store which had been downloaded a total of 9 million times, after security company Trend Micro found they contained adware.