Contact us anytime to know more — Abhishek P., Founder & CFO CISIN
Mobile app development is growing at an astounding pace. This comprehensive guide on the mobile app market will thoroughly cover this growth, from its benefits for business owners and entrepreneurs to cost-cutting strategies available to developers of these applications.
CISIN and many companies established and start-up companies design mobile applications that simplify life for their clients.
When building mobile apps, we take security seriously. How can we protect consumer data and corporate information while creating something useful for both parties? This article covers some of the most frequently occurring security threats to mobile apps and strategies for combating them during the development phase.
Let's begin by considering vulnerabilities associated with Enterprise Mobile Applications.
What Is Mobile App Development?
MAD refers to producing software designed specifically to run on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, including smartphones with larger displays and tablets running Android or other operating systems such as Chrome OS.
Mobile application developers create bundles of code which can then be distributed over mobile web browsers or app stores for download onto these devices.
App development for smartphones refers to designing apps specifically targeted towards smartphone platforms such as Android or iPhones, downloaded through app stores or web browsing and usually using a network connection to access remote computing resources.
App creation typically entails:
- Building installable software bundles.
- Implementing APIs that connect backend services such as data access.
- Test the app using its target device.
Apps created for Apple devices like iPhones and iPads differ significantly from apps developed for Android; Android developers use Swift and Java, while iOS developers favor Objective-C programming languages.
Some technologies don't need programming languages and native development.
Important to recognize is the coherence and uniformity of development at its core. However, mobile app development has undergone drastic changes over the years.
Although not new, mobile app development remains relevant, and demand keeps increasing for robust apps that consider hardware capabilities, screen sizes, and any relevant factors when building robust and scalable applications in a wide range.
Why Are Mobile Apps So Vulnerable?
Modern phones contain many communication features that connect them to the internet, including WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, and GSM modules as well as sensors such as GPS, gyroscopes, cameras, and hotspots that make our phones "smart." We take these functions for granted, but all provide potential entryways into sensitive information for attackers to exploit.
Mobile Security: Legitimate Threats
The growth of the market for mobile security suggests otherwise. Technavio's analysis indicates this as it forecasts its market to increase from USD 1,862.62 Millions between 2020-2024 at an impressive compound annual compound growth rate of over 8 %; one factor driving its expansion is cyber attacks that lead to this phenomenon; this leads to numerous questions being posed and answered regarding its nature and purpose.
- How secure are mobile phones?
- What are the security threats for mobile applications?
- Is iOS safer than Android?
- Can you extract sensitive data from a cell phone?
Let's answer these questions one by one.
What Is The Security Of Mobile Phones?
The past year appears to be a year for sneak attacks against mobile phones. Both cybercriminals and national states increased mobile attacks last year using different techniques ranging from mining cryptocurrency mining backdoors.
They have found even more covert ways of perpetrating their attacks and fraud, making detection and removal harder.
Cybercrime has rapidly moved onto mobile platforms; more than 60% of all online fraud occurs on these devices, and 8 out of every ten mobile fraud incidents occur via apps rather than web browsers; on average, 24,000 malicious apps are removed daily from the internet due to cybercrime.
What Are The Security Threats For Mobile Applications?
Let's consider four potential mobile security concerns as we begin exploring possible threats that affect their security and apps that run on mobile phones or devices.
Threat #1: Malware
Mobile malware poses a potential security risk. Mobile phones typically only permit application installation from official app stores like Google Play or Apple Store; thus, hackers have found ways to place malicious apps within these stores to gain entry into targeted devices and be installed without restriction.
Threat #2: Lost Or Stolen Device
Mobile phones can become lost or stolen. Someone with physical access could bypass their lock screen to access sensitive information stored on it.
Threat #3: Biometric Spoofing
Hackers could attempt to use biometric authentication on mobile phones as an easy target. Think fingerprint authentication here; our prints are everywhere, including the devices they protect, yet hackers can create fake fingerprint copies using biometric spoofing techniques, providing hackers with yet another security breach vector.
Spoofs can fool both touch and swipe sensors. In this video, for instance, an iPhone 4s photo results in an artificial fingerprint that easily unlocks three devices: an iPhone 5s, a Fujitsu phone, and a Thinkpad laptop.
Are facial detection technologies secure enough? Brad and Joe, longtime friends who had assumed this, thought so until Joe reported having injured his Achilles tendon while working out at a gym.
Brad took Joe's phone to reach Joe's girlfriend but noticed when looking at Joe's iPhone that the screen had unlocked, which meant Apple Face ID facial identification system had mistakenly identified Brad as Joe!
Threat #4: Code Guessing
Brute Force and Code Guessing are two methods used by criminals to bypass phone security more easily, through brute-force attempts or "shoulder surfing," usually by watching someone use their passcode (typically PIN/ PW/ passcode/ other security codes) themselves.
While our list does not cover every potential mobile security threat available today, it gives you some idea of where threats could exist, leading us directly to the question.
Why Mid-Market Companies Should Pursue Mobile App Development
Mobile apps have become essential parts of modern life, and businesses can't overlook mobile app development's many advantages; indeed, it could prove invaluable in many different areas.
Mobile app development will offer many tangible advantages to mid-market firms alike.
Offer More Value To Customers
Businesses today depend heavily on technology for transactions to complete and initiated, with modern tech having an enormous effect on how consumers shop to satisfy their needs and satisfy expectations apps on mobile phones are especially beneficial in this regard for retail industries as their clients can access products easily while enjoying personalized convenience with apps giving greater customization than before.
Build A Strong Brand
Your brand will develop as you offer clients value and create memorable brand experiences through intentional branding.
Mobile apps with branding features may prove useful apps on smartphones have become part of our everyday lives, so app owners should use this channel effectively; apps containing as many branding features will increase the effectiveness of branding marketing as they collect data that allows a better understanding of audience trends and help your marketing strategy to evolve.
Increase Customer Experience Level
A simple yet effective strategy for increasing revenue and expanding brand recognition is to focus on customer engagement.
If customers interact more frequently with your brand, their lifetime value and ROI rise dramatically. App owners looking to boost engagement should add certain features to their apps that encourage repeat use by their target market.
Segmented targeting for these users requires creating different groups and controlling what content is delivered to each group of users.
Segmentation enables you to deliver more tailored messages and recommendations; discounts, loyalty programs, and frequent feature updates all help increase customer engagement; in addition, it's key to pay close attention to the user interface/UX; an unattractive interface could cause users to switch apps in search of one with better UI/UX features.
Get A Competitive Edge In Your Niche
Mobile applications provide digital marketers with an efficient marketing channel. Users who download apps directly benefit digital marketers with direct access to user sessions; data collected helps enhance your campaigns, while apps enable marketers to deliver personalized and impactful marketing content faster than any other channel.
Create A Marketing Channel That Is Personalized
Another area that would benefit from a mobile app is marketing. When users choose mobile apps, digital marketers can access information directly about them.
The data collected from user sessions will help you improve your marketing and campaigns. Apps enable marketers to deliver more personalized and effective marketing content than any other channel.
Customers Prefer Mobile Apps
Customers prefer mobile apps. Apps have become an immensely popular form of discovery and purchasing goods and services, making it the go-to way for the discovery, consumption, and purchase of various goods and services.
Apps are easy to download, navigate and use, popular among customers for various reasons. According to nearly every study or survey, mobile applications continue to rise in consumer popularity as more mobile applications become accessible without installation.
Now is an ideal opportunity to capitalize on this market.
Apps Are A Good Investment For Small And Mid-Sized Businesses
Data shows that nearly half (48%) of small businesses now possess mobile apps, and another 27% plan to create one within two years.
These figures demonstrate companies' investments in app development. Large and mid-sized organizations are creating apps to reach out to their audience more directly; app developers can meet all these businesses' demands while making extra revenue.
New Technologies Make App Development Simple
New technologies make app development simple. Thanks to low-code and no-code software and other tools, app development is no longer daunting.
Now is an ideal time for anyone launching an app company or seeking to become an app developer; using these technologies, you can speed up development time while streamlining processes to produce apps quickly with minimum resources used; you could even sell these applications if that interests you.
Is iOS More Secure Than Android Devices?
We can understand this perception based on threats highlighted earlier; Expert Threat Intelligence Report indicates this finding by showing Android devices are 50x more likely than Apple ones to become infected with malware infections; hackers often target Android because its devices power so many different Mobile Applications Platforms; cybercriminals may target it because it powers so many global devices.
These facts do not imply that iOS devices are 100% secure; developers have demonstrated methods for exploiting vulnerabilities on Android, iOS, and other mobile platforms without breaking through lock screen protections.
Once vulnerabilities are brought to vendors' attention, they usually address it with security patches; but simply identifying possible vulnerabilities is only half the battle; extracting sensitive data requires additional work, bringing us to questions four and five, respectively.
Read More: 7 Tips For Effective Mobile App Development
Can Sensitive Data Be Extracted From A Mobile Phone?
Unfortunately, yes. Hackers have used various techniques to unlock mobile phones.
- Android 5.x=5.1.1 devices before building LMY48M have an Android 5.1.1 vulnerability that permits unauthorized entry, even with encryption disabled. Hackers may gain entry by entering an extensive password string into the password field while keeping the camera app active; then, hackers have full access to any app or enable ADB Developer Access to gain entry and take over their target device.
- Hackers can gain access to sensitive information by installing trojans such as Monocle. Monocle is an Android surveillance application and Remote Access Trojan which employs advanced data extraction techniques for gathering intelligence data from infected phones. At the same time, it may also install hacker-selected certificates into trusted certificates on infected phones, making possible man-in-the-middle attacks against the target phone.
- Malware of another sort can read notifications sent by operating systems or applications, including notifications containing important one-time authentication codes sent over SMS, email, or other media channels. Furthermore, this malicious app can dismiss them to remain unseen by users; additionally, it can trigger action buttons within notifications sent by these applications.
How To Build A Mobile App That Is Secure
As previously discussed, mobile device security presents various threats; to build an app with secure credentials, we will now examine how best to create one using Open Web Application Security Project recommendations.
This online community produces free tools and technologies related to web app safety. Below; we outline this process with some essential considerations:
- Assess the risk.
- Define your security requirements.
- Secure Design.
- Implementation of Secure Implementation.
- Secure Verification.
- Secure Release.
Documentation is provided for each phase. Documentation is available on the OWASP site and consists primarily of the following:
- Mobile Application Security Verification Standard.
- Mobile Security Testing Guide.
- Mobile App Security Checklist.
Step 1: Perform A Risk Analysis
Before undertaking any project, we assess risk to establish its profile for this application. These risk profiles typically align with regulatory requirements, and we consider all risks, including financial, marketing, and industrial.
MSTG contains classification policies detailing the sensitive data and how best to secure it; At the same time, in MASVS, these may include user credentials or any other pertinent details.
- Personally identifiable information (PII), which can be used to commit identity theft, includes social security numbers, credit cards, bank account numbers, and health information.
- Information covered by nondisclosure agreements, management information, and contractual information is highly sensitive.
- All data required to be protected under law or compliance.
Step 2: Determining Security Requirements
We then develop the security requirements for an application in conjunction with its functional requirements. If, for instance, users' sensitive data needs to be encrypted both while stored and transmitted during transmission then this step needs to take place early on to reduce schedule disruptions and costs in future projects; abuse cases for each new use case need to be created at this point as well.
Finally, using OWASP MASVS, we create security requirements based on the risk analysis phase as we add features or data classes and review requirements regularly throughout development.
Step 3: Secure Design
Once we've understood our users' requirements for mobile applications, the next step involves designing an architecture to match these needs and designing security controls to protect any sensitive information identified during Step 1.
Threat modeling is an organized way of identifying and mitigating security risks related to your app using structured analysis techniques such as prioritization.
Threat modeling also establishes mitigations. Once completed, create a list of security tools and Secure Coding Rules and outline your testing strategy in this step.
When creating an effective threat model, we pose ourselves with the following questions.
- What can go wrong with mobile devices/ applications/ data?
- What can we do to address these issues?
This image is used to help you identify and understand the risks that are associated with a mobile application.
Step 4: Secure Development
This phase entails creating best practices to detect and eradicate security risks within software products. Depending upon its scope and purpose, activities associated with Step 4 may include the following activities.
- Security Code Reviews.
- Testing the Static Application Security.
- Tests of Security Units.
Static analysis can be utilized early during software development to detect bugs at a code level before making it public use.
Furthermore, the static analysis identifies incorrect coding, which could pose security vulnerabilities, all without running the program itself; this form of inspection encompasses binary or source codes alike and should take place from either start of the development process or at any point during iterative software production cycles.
At this stage, OWASP Dependency Check can help us identify project dependencies and verify if any vulnerabilities have been publicly disclosed.
At Development Works, we use only state-of-the-art development tools for native code native apps by the development team.
Step 5: Secure Verification
Secure Verification In this testing stage, we confirm that our code conforms with all security and privacy principles established throughout previous stages.
For this step, we use OWASP Checklists, manual, automatic Penetration Testing ("Pentest"), Dynamic Application Security Testing, or DAST where applicable and third-party companies.
Fuzz tests allow us to deliberately introduce random or malformed data deliberately into programs to cause it to break and cause failures.
MobSF (Mobile Security Framework) is an example of an effective mobile pen-testing tool capable of conducting static and dynamic analyses on Android and iOS platforms. MobSF was created to integrate seamlessly into any CI/CD pipeline or DevSecOps solution for more services in a secure mobile app; you can hire a mobile developer from CISIN.
Step 6: Release The Release
Secure Release Phase involves:
- Preparing the project for release to the public.
- Conducting the final security assessment.
- Plan how to fix bugs after the release of a product.
- Addressing the potential security or privacy issues that could arise later.
This phase starts by creating an incident response plan to identify emergency security contacts and create plans to maintain code acquired from another group or licensed by third parties.
Checklist For Mobile App Security
Businesses have always prioritized security as an issue; this sentiment becomes amplified when considering mobile app security.
Today every business utilizes a mobile application to better engage their customer base; without proper precautionary steps being implemented by security-minded business leaders, their brand could be put at risk. Any security flaws that occur could potentially compromise it.
Mobile devices run various operating systems, so security issues with apps for distributed platforms could occur more readily.
Hope that your business has already been adequately secured and you simply require an app security checklist in the future, we wish you success as you strive to safeguard it further. A recent survey concluded that over 75% of mobile applications fail basic security tests.
Employees download mobile applications and use them for business functions; unfortunately, there are few or no guarantees regarding security for these apps, leaving them exposed to threats and breaches in security policies.
No one wants to become part of such a failure, so you should use a checklist when reviewing mobile app security measures.
Enforce Strong Authentication
Multi-factor authentication is the ultimate defense against unauthorized entry and should always be implemented, consisting of three main factors.
- Something the user is aware of, like a PIN as well as a password.
- A mobile phone, for example, is something that the user owns.
- A physical indicator of the user, such as a fingerprint.
The risk of unauthorized entry is significantly reduced when you combine password-based authentication and a device ID or client certificate.
You can implement restrictions based on location and time of day to prevent fraud.
Encrypt Mobile Communications
To prevent threats such as snooping and man-in-the-middle attacks on WiFi and cellular networks, IT should ensure all communications between apps and servers are encrypted using strong 4096-bit SSL keys and session-based keys exchanges even determined hackers won't be able to decipher them.
IT must ensure not only secure data traffic but also verify whether sensitive user phone data has been encrypted.
When handling ultra-sensitive information, IT may even choose not to download anything to end-user devices for further encryption of eminently confidential material.
Apps And Operating System Vulnerabilities Can Be Patched
Recent Android and iOS vulnerabilities such as Stagefright or XcodeGhost have exposed mobile users, forcing IT departments to deal with updates, fixes, and flaw fixes for apps and operating system flaws on mobile phones.
They must check to ensure patches and upgrades have been properly applied on each mobile device to stay protected against further attacks.
Protect Your Devices Against Theft
Millions of mobile devices are lost or stolen yearly, putting sensitive information at risk if thieves find any.
IT must offer remote wipe capabilities or, better still, ensure no data resides on mobile devices in the first place; employee devices should have corporate files locked down while keeping personal files and apps intact, and quickly restoring users' data when replacing or finding another device should also be possible.
Scan Mobile Apps For Malware.
Scan mobile apps for malware to eliminate viruses and spyware. Use virtual sandboxing or signature-based scanning software to easily spot potential risks; additionally, perform malware scans against servers hosting mobile workspaces or virtual mobile solutions to ensure safety.
Protect App Data On Your Device.
Make sure developers do not store sensitive information on devices. If necessary, any time data must be saved locally; it should be encrypted or protected before being added into databases, files, or stores for storage using advanced encryption technologies will provide added peace of mind.
Secure The Platform
Your platform needs to be properly controlled and protected from jailbroken devices; blocking access to other services, if required, should also be part of this process.
Prevent Data Leaks
Prevent Data Leaks IT must implement mobile workspaces designed to prevent data leaks by isolating business apps from personal apps on users' mobile phones, thus protecting sensitive corporate apps and permitting users to install personal ones on mobile devices.
Secure mobile workspaces help block malware from accessing corporate apps while preventing employees from copying or saving sensitive information.
To Prevent Confidential Data From Being Leaked:
- Stop copying and pasting by controlling clipboard access.
- Screen captures of block screens.
- Stop users from saving confidential files or files on shared file sites, connected devices or drives.
- Watermark sensitive files using the usernames of users and timestamps.
Optimize Data Caching
Did you know mobile devices store cached data to optimize app performance? Unfortunately, this poses security problems because apps and devices become more susceptible.
Attackers may easily decrypt or breach cached information, which results in stolen information.
If the stored information is sensitive, consider asking users for passwords when accessing apps to protect themselves against vulnerabilities associated with cached information.
Also, implement a process where cached information will be automatically cleared each time their device reboots this will minimize cache size while mitigating security threats.
Isolate Application Information
Use a mobile phone to separate all data that users access, separated from what belongs to each user. Isolation may involve employing several layers of security for enterprise-deployed apps so corporate data and consumer applications can remain separate.
Separating data will increase customer satisfaction and productivity while complying with security policies. A container-based approach may prove advantageous as its security will usually remain stringent throughout transmission levels thus mitigating risk associated with corporate information loss.
Conclusion: Prioritizing App Security
Mobile and app security has become more critical as our reliance on devices increases. CISIN helps clients create secure mobile applications to protect themselves, their brand, and their information.
We adhere to stringent information security practices on an organizational level.
Check this mobile app security checklist before beginning or expanding your business or even once established and operating.
Doing this can protect against fraud, loss, and loss. While security can often seem complex and impossible to resolve without professional assistance, contact CISIN mobile app developer for advice and support.
