Mobile applications have been one of the most important income generators for many businesses in the world today. Their revenue has closely reached $693 billion in 2021 and is propelled to gain $935 billion in 2023. However, this remarkable rise comes at the cost of cyberattack threats, Making mobile app security very critical.
According to the Mobile Security Report 2022, 97% of organizations have faced mobile-related attacks, with 50% of employees downloading at least one negative application. Affecting many businesses and user data security causing loss or havoc.
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Overview of Mobile App Security
App security isn’t just a privilege, it is a bare necessity. One violation can make your organizations lose not just millions of dollars but a lifetime of trust.
However as a developer, from the moment you start writing the first line of code, security should be a priority for your application. Most times when developers are unprepared or busy developing the most automatic, innovative and exciting apps, security breaches shook up the cyber world and made off with millions of dollars.
If you look at our world today and begin to see the kind of relationship we have with our smartphones and mobile apps today, you will notice a big share of our life-critical information is roaming about in space and access to the hand of cyber-criminals.
With one break-in, criminals could know our name, home address, age, account numbers and even our current location just a few meters away. With that kind of information at stake, mobile app developers expect to do everything they can to safeguard their users and clients.
Let’s dive in and look out at different best practices that you can use to ensure mobile app security.
1. Adhere to mobile development best practices:
Implement secure coding best practices for developing apps, and use a secure code review process to ensure that any sensitive data is handled correctly and ensure all data are stored securely on the device itself instead of in an external database or server. Encrypting data will help protect it from being stolen or exposed if the device is lost or stolen.
2. Write a Secure Code
Most attackers use bugs and vulnerabilities as an entry point to break into an application. Studies have shown that malicious code is affecting over 11.6 million mobile devices at any given time.
Don’t forget to keep the security of your code in mind from the start and strengthen your code, making it hard to break through.
Most attackers try to reverse-engineer your code and work against it most times all they need is a public copy of your app for it. Don’t forget to minify your code so it won’t be reverse-engineered, test frequently so you can fix bugs when they are exposed, and also design your code easily so it can be revised and fixed.
3. Implement authentication and authorization protocols:
Develop an authentication protocol that requires users to log in before accessing any app content and use authorization rules to limit access to sensitive parts of the app based on user roles.
However, using strong authentication techniques such as two-factor authentication (2FA) when logging into the app will help secure it. This requires users to use a combination of something they know like; a username, password and something they have that allows a code to be sent to their mobile phone.
4. Use SSL/TLS for secure communication:
When transferring data between the app and a back-end server, make sure that SSL/TLS is used so that all traffic between them is encrypted and secured against man-in-the-middle attacks, eavesdropping, and other malicious activities.
5. Secure APls
APIs are important to integrate third-party services and also increase functionality. Allowing heterogeneous systems to interact with each other and enable data exchange.
However, for better app security, you need a protected API and never expose the data exchanged. The best way to ensure API security is to influence data access authorizations.
6. Monitor user activity within your apps and Vulnerabilities
Regularly monitoring usage patterns within your apps so you can detect suspicious activity as soon as possible, such as attempts at unauthorized access can help to detect any potential security threats early on before they become serious issues. Utilize security scanners and regular testing to detect vulnerabilities in your app before malicious actors can exploit them.
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7. Use analytics tools for deeper insights into user behaviour:
Analytics tools such as Google Analytics can help you get an in-depth look into how users interact with your app which can help you identify potential security risks like what areas of your app are being targeted by hackers. etc
8. Protect Network Communications: Encrypt your network traffic by using secure protocols like HTTPS so that any data sent or received from your app is protected from malicious actors who might be trying to intercept your communication.
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9. Implement Authorization Controls: Utilize role-based authorization to make sure only authoritarian access features of the application are based on their permission level within the organization or system running it, rather than providing access based solely on user identity alone.
10. Educate Developers & Users: Educate developers about best practices for mobile app security as well as users so they know what measures need to be taken to keep their data secure while using the application.
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Summary
As technology evolves, and smartphone usage is increasing every day, mobile application security should be taken seriously and be high on your priority list.
However, with this speed, attackers are getting more advanced in using different tactics and social engineering practices, in getting more creative at malicious injection attacks.
This has shown that you need to heighten the security measures for data security and prevent these hackers from taking control of your applications.
We hope that these tips are helpful and it will guide you in securing your mobile app. At Soar Digital we have helped hundreds of businesses to build and grow their businesses, using the best and most skilled developers for your business.
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