Mobile App Security Threats and Best Practices

According to the recent estimates revealed online, one out of the 36 mobile phone users have installed high-risk applications that are bound to be targeted by the hackers thereby posing threat to security. Since the use of mobile apps within the smartphone users has grown in the past few years, it is highly necessary for the application developers to consider their security aspects so as to avoid any kind of threat to the user information and data.

As per the latest data, more than 71% of the fraud transactions have been recorded from the mobile apps as compared to the web applications while the statistics have been increasing by 16% every year.

Hackers across the world are striving on the data gathered from the mobile applications and meticulously using the personal information of users for extracting money. The developers while developing the mobile applications need to be extra cautious when it comes to implementing the necessary security protocols.

The application threats may include tapping into the camera, location, microphone and other elements of the smartphone as well as the app cloning used by the hackers to gain access to personal information. Since the hackers around the world are now excessively creative when it comes to hacking the applications, the developers must confirm the app security before launching it on the Android or iOS platforms.

What is Mobile App Security

Mobile app security is the process of securing the mobile applications from external threats like malware, spyware, hacking, phishing and many more digital frauds that risks the personal and financial information of the users.

The customers are dependent on the organization offering the applications on the App store when it comes to ensuring the safety protocols for meticulously phishing data. Though, the statistics from IBM offer insight into something unique altogether.

According to IBM insights, more than 50% of the organization lacks the budget to ensure the safety of the applications they are developing. In addition to this, the statistics also point that more than 40% of the app developing companies don’t test their code for vulnerabilities while more than 33% do not test their app altogether before launching it on the app stores.
The statistics also reveal that more than 13 million devices across the world have been affected by malware though, the organizations are not yet keen on making their apps secure for their customer base.

Thus the weak application with little or no security parameters attracts the hackers thereby offering them leverage to gather the customer information, financial information, IP theft and more. This, in turn, can result in the disastrous brand image for the organization or the product.

Be Extremely Specific While Outlining The Task

To focus properly on the top priorities for your growth, it is important that everyone in the organization can relate to the work being done, Don’t give out vague instructions on how to achieve an end goal. Instead, be more specific and give concrete achievable targets and instructions. At the same time increasing the number of goals does not convert to a more productive team.

Loopholes in Mobile App Security

Usually, mobile applications are designed to offer a seamless interface as well as a well-planned functionality to its user base while the anti-virus applications have been designed with the sole purpose of preventing the security threats on the networks and servers. However, every mobile application that has a poorly designed interface or is protected with weak passwords cannot be saved by the anti-virus application itself.

Here are some of the common security lapses that are ignored by the application developers over time:

• Improper operating system
• Android intent sniffing
• Ios keychain risk
• Data storage risks
• Touch id risk
• Improper data transmission
• MITM attacks
• Insecure communication and authentication
• Improper encryption
• Insecure authorization

Source: https://appsmaventech.com/blog/mobile-app-security-threats-and-best-practices