Top 5 Security Issues in Mobile Development
Thousands of apps hit the market every day but an equal number of them die out as well. While app developers are busy pumping new applications into the market, hackers are busy implanting malware or phishing out important user information from the apps. This is a critical problem that needs to be addressed as this affects the reputation as well as the credibility of the app development company or the developer. Here are the top 5 security issues related to app development.
1. Not implementing secure communications to server
Most of the applications have to connect to a server. While handling sensitive user information, if the communication to the server is not secure, the personal information can be hacked. The security of user information can be ensured to appropriate encryption and SSL certificates.
2. Using third party app frameworks
A plethora of ready made codes and frameworks are available online for developers to use. There is absolutely nothing wrong is borrowing from such codes, but the problem occurs when you do not do adequate testing. Hackers also release a large number of such frameworks which are vulnerable to security breaches on a regular basis. Proper verification of the code for possible threats is the most basic and crucial step that has to be followed.
3. Poor authentication or authorisation
Dearth of proper authentication can make a mobile app vulnerable to a large number of security breaches. The easiest way to tackle this issue is to provide a stronger authentication mechanism. This can be achieved by way of using stronger passwords or OTPs which can be sent to mobile numbers or emails or even biometrics. This will help to cover the threats of hackers accessing cached data to a large extent.
4. Not investing in strong encryption
A large number of mobile applications require the user to key in sensitive user information like credit card numbers. When mobile applications are not encrypted properly, such personal information is at a very high risk of being jeopardised. Apps should be designed in a manner that the security of the user information is a high priority.
5. Client side injection due to insufficient input data validation
Any input to your application should be treated as an untrusted one to mitigate the most common web application vulnerabilities. Any untrusted data can be a vehicle for injection attacks. Data validation should be performed early on in the process in order to ensure that only properly formed data enters the workflow. Whitelisting is a popular method for input syntax validation.