Computer scientists at Columbia Engineering have shown for the first time that it is possible to analyze how thousands of Android apps use cryptography without needing to have the apps’ actual codes. The team’s new tool, CRYLOGGER, can tell when an Android app uses cryptography incorrectly—it detects the so-called ‘cryptographic misuses’ in Android apps. When given a list of rules that should be followed for secure cryptography—guidelines developed by expert cryptographers and organizations such as NIST and IETF that define security standards to protect sensitive data—CRYLOGGER detects violations of these rules.