Mobile Application Security

1. Mobile Application Security www.hiddenbrains.co.uk

2. Mobile phones are very much accessible to almost every human these days. There are many reasons it is so, but this has bought a revolution in the market technology. For doing anything, I mean anything, you need an application, and this application can be the cause of your security breach. Do you know how? Previously, mobiles were used for only calling or listening to the radio. Still, it has drastically changed now with the introduction of social media and online banking and many more. For doing any of the tasks mentioned above, one needs to be connected to the internet, and that is the place where the security of your phone is most vulnerable.

3. As mentioned earlier, the application is how one can access everything on a mobile phone, and engineers working for the big development firms of this nation create these applications. There are many Mobile app development companies in the UK, but the problems emerge when engineering firms that deal in the development of applications don’t focus much on the security of their users. This proved to be why there have been so many data leaks where hackers have leaked the users of the data of a certain company. The fact that the user of the applications as well as the mobile phones themselves are not that interested in their security. To solve this issue, both the engineers who are developing this mobile application. The end-users of this application have to be more careful while developing and using it, respectively.

4. WHAT CAN A HACKER DO WITH YOU AND YOUR DEVICE? There are many myths about hackers in general. Still, it is evident that they are capabilities of many things, and some of them will be out of normal people’s imagination. This is one of the reasons why there is a surge of VPNs because they protect your information by encrypting it. Hackers can put malware in the applications. When anyone downloads that application, their device will get infected by that malware. The malware will be how the hackers can get access to your phone and, to a limit, can also control your phone. Some of the things that he can do with the access are that he can take the data access of your phone and copy or steal your screen locks. Apart from screen locks, they can also steal the passwords of the different applications of your phone and reverse engineer it, which would contain malware. They can use your data for fraud purposes like bypassing credit cards and many more.

5. IOS OR ANDROID? WHICH IS SAFER, AND HOW DOES THE OPERATING SYSTEM AFFECT THE APPLICATION’S SAFETY? Android vs. IOS has been a heated debate going on for years now, and it does not seem to be ending soon. But that’s not on our agenda; the point of our interest is the portal through which we download the applications in operating systems. You need to visit the app store in IOS to download any application. IOS does not support installing any unknown application in the form of an APK. Plus, the app store is known for filtering out suspicious apps daily, due to which fraud and malicious apps are in danger of getting removed as soon as they are launched. All of this is okay, but the main thing that goes for IOS is that the way the which one can publish an application in the app store is much more rigorous. But due to this very few apps can make it through the safety test and then they are added to the app store.

6. WHAT STEPS CAN AN APPLICATION DEVELOPER TAKE TO ENSURE THE MOBILE APPLICATION SECURITY AS WELL AS THE USERS? If you care about the safety and security of your application, then it would be wise for you to integrate a security team from the start of the application development. Keeping this in mind, you should pre-allocate resources for the security team. When it comes to native application development, security should come fast as normal web applications are different from the native application as native applications in web applications, data, and applications exist separately on a particular server. But in native applications, once the application is downloaded, the code will be contained in the mobile, due to which it is much more prone to attacks. API is the acronym for an application programming interface. It is generally used in the back end of development and supporting functions due to which it can communicate with each other. These APIs are generally apparent enduring due to which they can cause some trouble relating to its security.

7. WHAT STEPS CAN AN APPLICATION DEVELOPER TAKE TO ENSURE THE MOBILE APPLICATION SECURITY AS WELL AS THE USERS? As mentioned above, the code and all the information of the native application lie in the devices. This means that the more data stored on your mobile device, the more you are at risk of a hacker or malicious attacks. The malicious application leaks the user’s data without the user’s consent. Encryptions can somewhat percent it as they can protect your data on a file-by-file basis. Testing your software is a very important process in the application development process. Currently, apps are being developed daily, and most of them usually leave out the testing process, which is very important. The testing process can reveal the shortcomings related to mobile application security. The token should be used more frequently in the process of app development. A token is hardware that regulates and handles the users’ sessions in the applications much more easily.

8. STEPS THAT THE END-USERS OF THE APPLICATIONS CAN TAKE TO ENSURE THEIR SAFETY There are not many things in the hands of the application developers to maintain the security and safety of the users, but it mostly depends on the user, if they are using their mobile phones properly without doing anything suspicious. These are some of the tips that the mobile phone users should follow for maintaining their security- 1. NEVER CONNECT TO AN UNKNOWN WI-FI The Internet is wonderful. It can be used anywhere and through any mobile. Wi-Fi is one of the mediums by which people use the internet, but that does not mean that you should use any free Wi-Fi that you can get. Wi-Fi is a medium through which the internet can be accessed, so it can also be prone to cyber-attacks. So before connecting to an unknown Wi-Fi, remember the safety of your mobile phone and stay away from it.

9. STEPS THAT THE END-USERS OF THE APPLICATIONS CAN TAKE TO ENSURE THEIR SAFETY 2. NEVER TRY JAILBREAKING OR ROOTING YOUR PHONE There are many reasons why one should not jailbreak or root their phones. One of them is that it is a very complicated process, but the main reason is that it removes all the safety and security features of mobile applications pre-installed by the manufacturer. 3. NEVER DOWNLOAD APKS FROM UNKNOWN SOURCES IOS users don’t need to worry about this. Still, Android users are very prone to it as Android allows the installation of applications from unknown sources. These applications are very prone to be infected by different viruses, and if you happen to download them, they can infect your device too.

10. STEPS THAT THE END-USERS OF THE APPLICATIONS CAN TAKE TO ENSURE THEIR SAFETY 4. INSTALL A WELL-PAID VERSION OF AN ANTI-VIRUS The easiest way of protecting your phone from cyber-attacks is by using a good anti-virus. You should keep in mind that many anti-viruses are available on the market. Still, most free ones are not that accurate and useful, so if you want to protect your mobile from virus attacks, you should use the paid version of a trusted anti-virus. 5. BEING UP TO DATE You should ensure that your phone’s software is always upgraded to the latest version. The manufacturing company provides the latest patch updates on your phone, so you should always keep your mobile up to date to keep your device safe.

11. CONCLUSION Mobile app security is not dependent on a single factor but on several interdependent factors. It is the job of the app developers to take the necessary steps to enhance the security and privacy of the users. At the same time, the users should also not do anything prohibited, like rooting or jailbreaking the mobile. If you own a business and are afraid about the security of the users as well as that the information of your company may get leaked, then you should hire or contact an app developer. If you are looking for iOS app development services in UK or for android, then you can search for them in your browser and do some research before choosing the best one for you. No one can say what destruction the hackers can cause once they access your phone and data, so it is better to prevent it. You should go through the tips mentioned above to be careful from your side of things, as the app developers are already working harder to make a good application that is safe for the users.

12. THANKYOU! www.hiddenbrains.co.uk Email us :- biz@hiddenbrains.com Phone: +44 207 993 2188