When it comes to mobile app development, app security remains the topmost concern for the majority of the developers as it can not only tarnish the business’s image but also end up wasting their development efforts. In today’s most advancing world full of hackers, Data leakage, Spyware, and Network Spoofing are very common app security threats.
Mobile app security is not a point of “whether we require it or not”, however gradually it has become a point of “how strong it could be”.
A recent survey & Findings:
? More than 87% of top-rated paid ios apps have been hacked
? Nearly 75% of the well-known free iOS apps have been hacked
? Almost 80% of the most famous free Android apps have been hacked
Despite several mobile app testing tools easily available online or in the market today, the biggest irony is that more than 85% of mobile apps still violate mobile app security standards. You should make a careful attempt o tighten the security of your mobile app as it is considered to be one of the key factors that determine the success or failure of your application. To help you out, here we have prepared the list of best practices that you can simply follow to enhance your mobile app security.
Let’s take a look at it!
1. Write a Secure, Hack-proof Code
Here it is all started! As the code is the most insecure part of any mobile app, you should pay extra attention to build your app code as strong as feasible. For example, for freezing your code against the most common mobile app security hacks, you can get benefited from some of the mobile app security techniques like Minification, Content Controls, ‘Open in’ Restriction and OWASP methodology.
2. Be Careful While Using Third-party Libraries
Third-party libraries are most common among the developers for building the code. They can make your application vulnerable to hackers due to the malicious code, which is often added by the creators and can speed up the development process of your mobile app. Always use tried-and-tested third-party libraries and components to bypass any app security loopholes and thus can never compromise with your app security.
3. Implement High-Level User Authentication
The two critical components of mobile app security are Authorization & Authentication. Even though a massive part of these two factors depends on the end-users of your application, you as a developer should encourage your users to be more alert about it. Thought your app doesn’t include highly-sensitive information, you should take benefit of pioneer app security technologies like JSON web tokens; OpenID connects protocol and Oauth 2.0 to secure your app.
4. Deploy Tamper Detection Techniques
You being a developer should use temper detection techniques to get warnings whenever someone attempts to alter with your code or add malicious code to your app’s source code. There are various ani-detection and tamper detection techniques such as app installer identification, performing environment checks, and app signature verification at runtime, etc. available to get alerts about mobile app security defects.
5. Think Security Early On
In spite of how excited you’re about getting your mobile app live, you should always pay attention to mobile app security is an important part of mobile app development strategies from the beginning. A well-prepared mobile app security checklist will not only help you fix all app security measures to make a fully-secure app but likewise save you from time-consuming and costly fixes later.
6. Understand Platform-Specific Limitations
Remember that every platform has its very own definite limitation that can influence the security of your mobile app, and you should keep this in mind while developing multiple mobile operating systems. The fact is that the majority of iOS and Android devices easily get hacked through either hardware vulnerability or the operating system, so you can initially understand platform-particular mobile app security limitation and then start coding subsequently.
7. Implement Proper Session Handling
Did you know that session on mobile app normally last much longer than the desktop devices? So proper session management turns out to be a significant perspective of mobile app security. You should also provide users with the facility to remotely log-off their accounts and remove all data available in devices, especially in case of lost and stolen devices. Rather than using identifiers to validate a session, you can use tokens and increase your mobile app security.
8. Utilize the Latest Cryptography Tools and Techniques
You should always follow Proper Key Management security practices when it is related to encrypting your mobile app’s data. Neither hard code your encryption keys nor try to store keys on any local devices as it is considered as a preventive mobile app security measures. State-of-the-art encryption protocols like SHA-256 and 256-bit AES for hashing are always preferred over cryptographic protocols such as SHA1 and MD5.
9. Rigorous Testing for an Application
It is very important to follow all the methods of app testing. The code must be tested for insecurities, which can be corrected just before your app is ready for launch on an app store. Some of the relevant testings you can follow are automated testing, regression testing, and exploratory testing. Don’t forget to prepare a timeline that shows the dedicated time you’re giving to test your application.
The Final Word
Users spend more than 50% of their time using mobile apps, simply showing the generality of workplace bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies which make businesses more secure than before to mobile app security risks. Many Organizations have controlled many points that allow hackers to enter into their network and started considering the security of mobile application as an important factor of every project.
Tactics and technologies described in mobile app security used to stop malicious users from utilizing weaknesses in applications and devices. Rather than ignoring or including securities as a consideration at the end of the project, developers should integrate security at every development stage, and for better performance and security factors you can also consult with some well-known mobile app development company.
The above-listed tips and tricks can give many benefits to you when considering your phone data security an important factor. You can schedule a regular review of best practices of app security to create and maintain a security-aware culture that can enable your company to enjoy the benefits of a mobile solution.
