Mobile App Security Threats You Need To Look Out For
Billions of people around the world download and use apps every day. As this number continues to increase, more hackers will try to target you and your personal information. If you’re not aware of the common mobile security threats out there, that just leaves you more prone to an attack.
Here are some of the stats you need to know.
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1 out of every 36 devices has been compromised by a mobile app security threat.
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54% of malicious mobile apps in 2018 are apps in the tools and lifestyle categories.
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71% of fraud transactions came from mobile apps and mobile browsers in the second quarter of 2018
Now, what are some of the most common mobile app security threats? Lack of multifactor authentication makes it simple for hackers to compromise your information. If you don’t have a strong password to shield you from attacks, and this is your only validation factor to access your info, it’s too easy for hackers to gain access.
An example to learn from comes from the December 2017 TimeHop attack. TimeHop failed to include multifactor authentication into their computing environment. This allowed an employee’s login information to be compromised, and the hackers used this data to gain access to information on over 21 million users. Even though the attack occurred in December of 2017, it took until July 4, 2018, for internal alerts to signal a problem and for the app to crash. All this may have been prevented with the implementation of a multifactor authentication feature.
Insufficient encryption is also another red flag. Some people don’t even understand what this means—to encode data in such a way that only authorized users can access. Failure to use any cryptography best practices allows hackers to read and understand secure information without any trouble. This leads us to another warning that you’re prone to a hack.
Attacker’s who are able to gain access to an app’s source code can design a “clone” of an app. This clone can lead unaware users to download this malware—meaning they’re feeding all of their personal information directly to the hacker.
So, what else can you do to prevent your information from being hacked? You can confirm inputs and seek to obfuscate code. Obfuscation and minification make the code less readable, and it also prevents the reverse engineering tactic we discussed earlier. Writing validation code for your app protects user-generated inputs against malicious codes as well as file injection.
This short list covers some of the most common ways hackers will try to attack you, and the best strategies you can use to protect against them. For the full list of you what need to do and what you need to look out for, study CleverTap’s easy to reference infographic about this subject.
Keep in mind, that before you start developing an encryption code for your app, you must consult a security expert if you have no prior experience in this. The last thing you’d want to do is to design an algorithm that has been disproved by the security community. Learn more about more tips and tactics you can take from CleverTap.
Chris Kinney
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