Mobile Application Security
Mobile devices have become more popular than Desktops and Laptops. As per a survey conducted by Techjury in last one-year Mobile users have increased by 10% and nearly half of the time is spent on Mobile devices. Users engage in all activities like watching news, movies, checking emails, purchasing online and doing bank transactions. Thus, there is a need of Mobile App Security is essential.
Everyone believes that Mobile Application Security is essential, and we need to take care of it during development phase, but what does Application Security mean? It is hard to find with a definition without identifying the risks and threats against which we want to protect ourselves. If we don’t define the risks, we can’t define application security.
Application Security can be defined as the process of finding and fixing security gaps and ensuring adequate protection against possible threats. When we start thinking about security, we should not immediately focus on the methods and techniques that will keep us safe. At first, we should analyze the risks and threats against which we want to defend ourselves.
To mitigate risk, organizations should perform continuous vetting for mobile app security issues. Only continuous vetting of mobile apps enables organizations to block high-risk mobile apps from use to protect the enterprise from mobile app supply chain attacks. Common risks mobile attacker exploits include are:
1. Leaking credentials that could be used to penetrate the back-end and move laterally through the network
2. Insecure back-end API’s that can be exploited to penetrate the back-end
Improperly validated connections that could redirect users to phishing sites
3. Insecure Data Storage
4. Lack of encryption and Malicious Code Injection
5. Lack of Multifactor Authentication.
Below are some of the best practices for securing Mobile Apps:
1. Use Server-side Authentication
2. Using Cryptographic algorithms and store keys safely
3. Validate that all user inputs meet Sanity Check Standards
4. Obfuscating to prevent Reverse Engineering.
VAPT (Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing) is a process of evaluating security risks in software system to reduce the probability of threats. The main purpose of vulnerability testing is to reduce the possibility for hackers to get unauthorized access of systems. VAPT is a methodical approach towards risk management. There are multiple tools for Vulnerability Assessment (VA) and Penetration Testing(PT) is a manual process and should be handled by professional and highly experienced ethical hackers. VAPT is increasingly important for organizations wanting to achieve compliance with standards including the GDPR, ISO 27001 and PCI DSS.
No matter how many layers of security you add you can never guarantee that your application is 100% secure. But you should always do the best you can. Building a secure mobile app requires collaboration between developers and security experts. Another consideration for mobile app security efforts is compliance.
