In the era of technology, mobiles have become unavoidable and they are the most widely used device in the world. Mobiles are full of apps, but the security of the apps has become a concern for users. Due to the momentous rise in cyber attacks, developing an app that is completely safe to use is a crucial component in mobile app development. This ensures an uncomplicated business operation. Previously, mobile apps are mostly used for entertainment and social media, but now the time has changed they are used for various purposes including payment processes.
Checklist to Secure Your Mobile Apps for 2022
Most apps now we use collect our behavioral data in the background. Hence you need to prioritize mobile app security more than anything in your next mobile app development. So how do you keep your personal and business data protected from such cyber attacks? No worries, in this blog we will guide you about mobile app security. Below we have given the complete checklist to secure your mobile app.
Code Signing Certificate to Secure your Mobile App
The most vulnerable are open-source software. Cybercriminals have no trouble attacking these applications. By including a code signing certificate into your software, you may avoid these cyber-attacks. To make the app resistant to cyber criminals, the software code should be intact and safe, with a code signing certificate to avoid virus multiplication.
However, it is critical to store your signing code certificate in a secure location to avoid attackers looking for the security code. You can also keep your files secure by using non-intruding and unique passwords. Symantec code signing certificate, Comodo code signing certificate, and Sectigo code signing certificate are a few well-known code signing certificates.
Multi-factor Authentication(MFA)
(MFA) is one of the essential factors to secure your mobile apps from cyber attacks. MFA is an authentication procedure that requires to user to provide more than one verification factor to access the target resources. The widely used authentication process only asks the user to provide a username and password, but in the case of MFA the user to need complete additional verification factors.
This can be a combination of OTP, biometric verification, calls and security questions. It ensures no one can use your device except you and can take the required measures if a cyber attack happens.
Encrypt Mobile Communication
As the usage of cellular and wifi networks increases, cyber attacks through these channels have become very common. So encrypting the communication between mobile servers is inevitable. Powerful encryption and SSL keys like 4096, can stop the cyber attackers from decrypting the data. It is equally important to encrypt your devices as encrypting the traffic. As far as ultra-sensitive data is concerned, it is important to safeguard data from being downloaded to the end user’s device.
Runtime App self-protection
Runtime application self-protection is an emerging technology that stops cyber attackers from attempting to hack your application and steal your data. RASP technology can be built into your application to prevent real-time attacks and detect vulnerabilities. RASP is capable of detecting, blocking, and mitigating attacks. This technology can protect your application from data without human intervention.
Install Tamper-Detection tools
Various technologies can detect when the app code is modified and can give warnings. Therefore, you need to develop an app in a way that can give warnings when the code is changed. The leading tampering strategy is an injection, including alteration in java code and transformation in code. These tamperings can be controlled by the tamper identification software. This software can stop malware from replicating and causing further harm to your application.
Secure Application Programming Interface
Application programming interfaces are responsible for integrating third-party services. API facilitates the systems to interconnect for data exchange and boosting functionality. An unsecured API is always vulnerable and the data exchanged can be decrypted by the attackers. To ensure the security of the application, conduct API security testing.
Static Application Security Testing(SAST)
Static analysis is a testing strategy, that is capable of analyzing application code and security loopholes of your mobile application. Static application security testing can investigate the application before the code is compiled and can discover unauthorized access. Apktool, Cydia, and App track are some of the tools used in static application security testing.
Prevent Data Leaks
Mobile users tend to install various apps on their devices without knowing their authenticity. It is important to isolate each app from one another to avoid data leaks. This restricts the malware from accessing sensitive information. The possible way for preventing data leaks are
- Restrict screen capture
- Watermark malicious files with usernames
- Stop copy and paste function
- Restrict users from downloading confidential files.
Summing up
To summarise, cyber attacks by hackers have become increasingly widespread in recent years. Even the most secure systems can be hacked. As a result, if you are intending to design a mobile application for your business, it is critical to remember that security is the most significant component in protecting your sensitive data from hackers. Consider following the above-mentioned security checklist to avoid losing your data to cybercriminals.
As you all know Adhoc Softwares is a leading App development company known for its unmatchable customer service and satisfaction, we implement various as we mentioned above, security testing procedures while developing an app to protect your valuable data from cyber attacks.
