How do security issues arise in mobile app development?

Mobile app development has become increasingly popular in recent years due to the convenience and ease of use of smartphones and tablets. Unfortunately, this popularity has also brought with it numerous security issues that developers must be aware of and address in order to ensure the safety of their users’ data. From insecure APIs to weak authentication protocols, there are a variety of ways hackers can exploit these vulnerabilities and gain access to sensitive information. There are various reasons why security issues can arise during mobile app development, some of which are given below.

1. Depending Only on Built-In Platform Security

There are a great number of app development platforms to choose from but none of them are completely immune to security threats and loopholes. Of the prominent app development platforms, Apple’s iOS platform has a fairly stringent screening process that the app has to go through before it is allowed to be launched for the users, and for this reason, it is considered to be one of the most secure platforms. However, it is also true that there is no guarantee that every app on the platform is secure. Any screening process, no matter how stringent can’t possibly take care of and thwart the attempts of every malicious person who might try to hack into the apps. Android, however, is completely different as it simply allows every new app to be launched and leaves it to the users’ discretion to sort the good from the bad with the help of reviews. Both systems are flawed in their own way and it is extremely important that you do not depend entirely on the security features or screening system of a platform when it comes to protecting the users from cyber threats.

2. Using Other Developers’ Codes

Developing an app from the ground up is quite a challenge and requires a lot of expertise and effort, apart from the big price tag attached to it. The process of developing an app from the scratch is a long one, and not every developer has the kind of time or resources to accomplish it. it is for this reason that quite a few of them pull out and make use of open-source code to speed the process up. Most of the modern applications today are made 90% from open source, which unfortunately means that it is the largest and the weakest grounds for attack by hackers and cyber terrorists. The hackers today are creating malicious codes with the hope that a developer would pick them up and give them access to all sorts of information that the app may be a gateway for. Hackers today are making use of the developers’ tendency to trust 3rd party code & solutions so that they can get the developer to do the actual deed for them!

There actually is nothing wrong with finding a foundation in someone else’s work and then building upon it. open source code can actually be a great way to save a lot of time and money. However, it is of great importance to do your due diligence and make sure that the 3rd party code you are developing is safe to be used in your app and that it does not jeopardize the safety of the users. Apart from that it is also important that after the launch of the app, you keep a vigilant eye on the code to validate the security and make sure that it stays safe to be used over a period of time. Find solutions that would help you monitor and identify whether the 3rd party code you want to use is safe to be used, then supplement this with your own set of tools, techniques, and processes to make the app foolproof. It is also good if you are able to build a relationship with those vendors which would ensure an open line of communication and open up apt pathways to remediate any number of flaws or bugs that may be discovered in the process. The key here is to use only those sources that have been vetted carefully and verify yourself if you can. It is good to trust but never place your trust in someone blindly.

3. Not Being Prepared for Caching & Logging Vulnerabilities

As far as possible do not cache app data. When it comes to storing any kind of data in a secure manner on any mobile device, it is important to employ the proper technique. The most secure, and foolproof way to mitigate the compromise of the data on the device is by making sure that no data is stored or cached. There are a number of ways where data may be stored unintentionally. It is possible that the developers may fail to register some of the ways that data can be stored. Some of these ways include:

• Log & Debug Files
• Web Cache & History
• Cookies
• Property Lists & Files
• SQLite Databases
• KeyStore & Keychain

The debug logs are designed with the intent to find and rectify flaws in any application. Also, in case of an app crash, the hacker may achieve access to a lot of information of great value in the form of the crash log that is created with it. In both these cases, there is a possibility of the hacker gaining access to a lot of sensitive information, which provides a lot more fuel to orchestrate yet another attack. When you offer features like “Remember Me” or “Save This User ID”, the user ID is then cached within the Credentials Manager object on iOS.

The prominent OSes including iOS and Android store the information that the users type in, with the intent to provide specialized features including customized auto-complete, autocorrect, and form completion. In doing so, it is possible that some of the sensitive data may also be stored in it.

These words when typed in, are cached in the Keyboard cache, which puts them essentially beyond the administrative scope of the app itself, which means that this data cannot be removed or deleted from the cache by the app.

There, however, are some techniques to prevent this, like programming in a manner that the cache would be automatically wiped as soon as the mobile device is rebooted or every time the user exits the app. There are quite a few other concerns and not all issues can be handled by programming at the developers’ end.

4. Not Conducting Thorough Tests for Security

It has been established earlier that the responsibility to make an app lies heavily and squarely on the developers’ shoulders primarily. If you, as an app developer do not ensure the total security of your app, you are exposing all your users and their data on your app to potential risks and threats. Hence it is good sense to never rush and release an app in a hurry. You must conduct enough tests to thoroughly test your app for the security & privacy of the users.

At the very least you must perform static and dynamic analyses of your applications.

Using SAST or Static Application Security Testing, you can evaluate the apps from the inside out and find any potential flaws and vulnerabilities in the code of the app that expose the data. This testing includes the 3rd party data as well.

DAST or Dynamic Application Security Testing is also referred to as Automated & Manual Mobile App Security Testing. This is one of the most important tests as it tests the apps as they work on the mobile device and identifies any susceptibilities or dicey behavior that the app may exhibit during its run time. DAST makes it possible to test the apps in a real-world scenario in a live network environment so as to be able to scrutinize and identify the vulnerabilities in data transmission and network communication.

It is of absolute importance to test the codes every time a build is pushed. It is advisable to integrate the security testing of the mobile app into the SLDC with automation. When you implement a build-test-deploy workflow, a security test is triggered every time a build is pushed. This means your team of developers can continue to focus on coding while all the security issues that have emerged may be taken care of by the security teams.

5. Compromising on Data Encryption

The thing about technology is that it is ever-evolving, what is state of the art today may become obsolete tomorrow. This applies even to the encryption algorithms that you may have chosen to apply in your app, which means that it may become obsolete and hence become easy to crack into. If your encryption system is weak, you are exposing your users and all kinds of sensitive information that they may have on your app to malicious hackers.

If your app involves in-app purchases or any other payments, your users may be required to enter their credit card information or any other sensitive information. In such cases, if your app does not have strong encryption, all this sensitive data is up for grabs! Sadly, the more popular your app becomes, the higher the chances of a potential attack on it. As an app developer, you must ensure that the encryption and its implementation on your app stay updated and are configured properly to provide maximum security to the app users’ data. There are other techniques that may be used in this regard like string encryption at the code level and a more advanced application of white-box cryptography which works both at the static and dynamic stages.

6. Failing to Prepare for App Reverse Engineering & Tampering

What happens when a mobile device is lost or stolen? As an app developer, there isn’t anything that you may do here! However, if you were to implement a local session timeout code, it can go a long way in providing a layer of safety to the user. This means that from time to time, the user would be asked to enter a password to be able to access the app. This duration may vary, and if you do not want to make it a daily affair, you can make it a weekly event or make the user enter the password every 7th time they access the app. It is common in smartphones or other mobile devices to have the provision to save passwords or other login details, but when you implement a local session timeout in your app, you prevent this from happening.

It is not so far-fetched to imagine a phone, or any other mobile device being stolen, lost, or accessed by a user with malintent at some point in time, and it is important that an app developer plan and prepare for this eventuality. The malicious users might, at this point reverse engineer the app to understand its working and gain information that might be valuable in determining how the app works. As an app developer, if you were to increase the runtime and complexity of the code. It increases the hurdles for a hacker to analyze or understand the working of the application. This in turn would bring the number of attacks and protect sensitive information from getting into the hands of malicious people. Some of the most useful techniques for this include – root/jailbreak detection, code obfuscation, debugging detection, and control flow obfuscation.

Some hackers have in the past modified existing apps and inserted malicious elements in them before publishing them to third-party sites and app stores. This is possible when a hacker or an attacker tampers with or backdoors into the app and then re-signs it. Some of the ways to prevent this from happening include – integrity verification, code signing, tamper detection, and resource verification.

7. Ignoring to Implement Secure Communication

While an app developer like you may be focusing all their resources and energy into making their apps secure, it is easy to forget about server-side security, which makes your app susceptible to malicious attacks. Most of the apps that need to handle any kind of sensitive data need to connect to a server and it is extremely important to ensure the safety of this transit. Failure to do this might lead to the loss or theft of sensitive data including but not limited to the users’ credit card information, identification information, etc. in case your app involves collecting big data, it is advised to get a certified SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) instead of using low-grade security encryption which can lead to leaks in data, your analytics, and advertising information.

When you have invested these many resources in making an app with exemplary security features, you do not want any interception over an insecure Wi-Fi connection. You can achieve this by employing strong encryption protocols & ciphers and TLS/SSL certificate pinning or Public Key Pinning. You may also acquire and implement extra layers of protection using app keys & secrets in combination with other techniques. Failing to secure this aspect can only spell disaster for you and your data.

8. Not Releasing Enough Security Updates

Hackers and attackers do not waste time and start their efforts in finding and exploiting the weaknesses of your app soon after you have launched it. This means that you cannot become complacent once the app has been launched. It is those apps that do not release frequent and timely security updates that attract hackers to find and exploit the security loopholes. It is important these holes be plugged in as soon as possible, and an update is sent to the users so that the functioning of the app and the faith that the users place in it is restored immediately. When you are dealing with sensitive information, there is effectively no margin of error, and when you ignore or delay fixing these issues, you run the risk of becoming obsolete pretty soon

9. Not Protecting the Device With EMM

EMM or Enterprise Mobility Management solution is an extremely effective way to protect the device from getting a jailbreak or getting rooted. A suitably employed EMM solution makes it impossible to remove the in-built security that is offered by the operating system in the mobile that offers to keep the data safe for a long time. When you employ an EMM solution, you are also offering a way to authenticate users before the app is launched and used to apply the different security policies in order to provide security from hacking attempts.

10. Insecure Data Storage

Some of the most popular apps have been known to save your login details in clear text, which means that anyone with your phone would have, at their disposal, all these details by simply connecting the phone to a PC. Now this means anyone with your phone has access to all your sensitive information like usernames, passwords, geo-location, email addresses, and other such data, which you might have been using in a number of other places as well. The extent of vulnerability that you suffer from, in this case, is insurmountable.

What are the best practices for mobile app security?

Mobile app security is essential to protect both users and organizations from malicious attacks. With the proliferation of mobile devices and the use of mobile apps, ensuring that these apps are protected from malicious attacks is a priority. There are a variety of best practices that can be implemented to ensure that sensitive data is not exposed and that users are protected from potential threats. These include implementing secure authentication protocols, encryption of data stored on the device, and regularly updating the app with security patches. By following these best practices, organizations can ensure the security of their mobile applications and protect their users from malicious actors.

What can I do to protect my app from malicious intent?

Protecting your app from malicious intent is a crucial part of maintaining its security. Malicious intent can come in the form of malicious code, hackers, or even viruses. Fortunately, there are a number of steps you can take to protect your app and ensure its security. Here are some of the most effective strategies for protecting your app from malicious intent.

1. Exercising Caution with Libraries

When it comes to security, you can only trust yourself. This means when you are using third-party libraries it is important that you exercise caution and care by testing the code in an optimum fashion before incorporating it into the app. It is true that integrating third-party libraries might be instrumental in making your app engaging, but some of these libraries may prove to be quite insecure in their structure. For instance, GNU C Library has an inherent security flaw that lets the attackers implement malicious code and cause a system crash. The worrying thing is that this flaw remained undiscovered for more than seven years. As a developer, you must use controlled internal repositories and implement policy controls at the time of acquisition and safeguard your app from the security loopholes in libraries.

2. Using Authorized APIs Exclusively

When you make use of unauthorized APIs that are loosely coded, you are unwittingly granting hackers privileges that may be grossly misused. If we were to take an example of locally caching authorization information, we know that it helps programmers reuse this information with great ease while making API calls. This makes it easier to use APIs easing out the coder’s life. But in doing so, the attackers may find a loophole and be able to hijack privileges. Experts in the field suggest making use of centrally authorized APIs for stronger security.

3. Data Encryption

More often than not, an app needs to exchange multiple units of data. In order to fortify your app and protect it from possible breaches, it is important that you encrypt every single unit of data that is being exchanged over the app. When you encrypt data, you are essentially scrambling up the plain text until it is converted into a meaningless pool of letters and numbers. This means that even if the data is stolen it would be useless for the miscreants. This meaningless encrypted data can only be decrypted into meaningful information to only those who have the key.

4. Employing High-Level Authentication

The authentication part of a mobile app is as vital as it is vulnerable. In the past, some of the most alarming breaches have happened where there was weak authentication. This is why strong or high-level authentication has assumed great importance today. In its most basic sense, authentication includes passwords or any other personal identifiers that may act as an entry barrier. This, however, is largely dependent on the app users. You, as a developer can sensitize your app users toward authentication. It is your responsibility as an app developer to design an authentication system that would only recognize passwords that have strong alphanumeric components, which must be changed or renewed in frequent intervals. You can also introduce a multi-step authentication system that employs a combination of passwords and OTPs, and in the case of apps that deal with highly sensitive content, you can even apply biometric identifiers for access.

5. Making Use of Tamper-Detection Technology

As an app developer, you must be aware of different techniques that would make it possible to set off alerts when attackers attempt to tamper with your code or try to inject malicious code. You can even deploy active tamper detection as a security measure which would render the code non-functional if it was modified in any manner.

How do I protect my app from potential cyber-attacks?

Guarding your app against potential cyber-attacks is not too difficult if you know which steps to take to protect your application. There are a number of ways for you to safeguard your app against vulnerabilities and keep sensitive data and information safe. Here are some:

1. Secure Code Writing

This is where it all begins. If there are bugs or vulnerabilities in a code, be sure that the hackers or attackers would try to get in through this door first. It is possible that they would attempt to tinker with it and reverse engineer it and for that, all that is needed is a public copy of your app. Even as you sit down to begin developing a security code that is strong enough to be able to thwart attempts of a breach. Make provisions in the code to ensure that it cannot be reverse-engineered. Also, it is important that you conduct tests repetitively and fix any bugs that might surface. Also, plan the code in a manner that would allow updates & patching. The code should be agile enough to allow for updates from the user’s end in event of a breach. In addition to this, make use of code hardening & code signing.

2. Using the Principle of Least Privilege

The Principle of Least Privilege states that the code must be able to run with only those permissions that are instrumental to its functioning and nothing more than that. This means that when you design an app, it must only ask for those permissions that are absolutely essential for the app to function.

3. Ensuring Appropriate Session Handling

Since the sessions on mobile devices last a lot longer than the ones on desktops, it becomes more difficult for the server to handle these mobile device sessions. One way to ease this is by using tokens in place of device identifiers to identify sessions. The biggest advantage here is that the tokens can easily be revoked whenever the need arises. This means that the app security increases in case the device was stolen or misplaced. This measure can be further fortified by making it possible to wipe the data from the device remotely and even log off remotely.

4. Applying the Best Cryptography Tools & Techniques

We talked about encryption and keys earlier in the post, but if you want your encryption efforts to be of any use, it is important that you pay attention to key management. If you hardcode your keys, you are only facilitating a security breach making it easy for the attackers to steal them. The keys must always be stored in secure containers which should not ever be stored locally on the device.

5. Keep Testing

Making and keeping your app secure is not a one-off task that would have a definite end date. On the contrary, it is actually a continuous process where you would have to keep testing the app and preparing it enough to be able to fend off the latest threats. You can keep testing your app for any loopholes or vulnerabilities by investing in techniques like penetration testing, threat modeling, and emulators. Make sure that these vulnerabilities are taken care of with timely updates.

When you are designing your app make sure that all this vital information that the users offer you is not stored directly on the device, and in case it has to be stored on the device, it must be done in a secure manner.

Summing up

You’re in a much better position now that you’ve read and understood many vital methods to protect your app against cybercrime, attacks, and hacking attempts. With these in mind, you can develop your business or personal use applications and earn the trust of your customers and clients who can use your app without worrying about the security of their personal information.