3 ways to expand your knowledge of mobile app security

Mobile use continues to grow. Today, the number of mobile devices with the Internet is perhaps greater than the number of people in the world. Studies show that by 2016 more than 10 billion mobile Internet devices will be used.The growth of the mobile application development company is also projected along with mobile devices with Internet access, which corresponds to the growing consumer demand associated with constantly evolving technologies. In fact, already half of the adult cell phone users in the USA have several mobile applications on their phones. And this number continues to grow, as it is the “Wild West” for mobile applications.

The use of dedicated mobile applications is not only growing, but also dominating the mobile Internet market. According to Flurry’s five-year report, mobile apps manage nearly 86 percent of the average US mobile user’s time, which is more than two hours of use per day.In accumulation, a bulky number of Internet users are becoming mobile. In December 2014, a Gartner study found that more than 50 percent of Internet users will primarily choose smartphones and tablets for their online activity by 2018. We have not reached 2018, and only mobile Internet users have already exceeded the number of desktop computers. US users only, a recent comScore study indicates.

This is all good, except for one thing, that security is becoming a serious problem as more and more Internet users become mobile. Many also raise this issue: are these mobile apps really safe to use? Are they well protected from malicious hackers?

Mobile apps and security issues

A recent Arxan study puts this security issue in perspective. The study found that:

• All 100 of the best paid Android apps on the Google Play Store have been hacked
• 73 percent of the most popular free apps on the Google Play Store were hacked
• 56 percent of the highest paid iOS apps on the Apple Store were hacked
• 53 percent of the most popular free iOS apps on the Apple Store were hacked

Arnax research findings are truly alarming. This is even more intimidating for the corporate world, as a large number of companies are rapidly adopting BYOD (“bring your device”) policies, allowing employees to enjoy a mobile workplace experience. A study by the Ponemon Institute shows that 84 percent of smartphone consumers use one mobile device for both work and personal use, which further increases the risk of hacking business data, as IT departments find it increasingly difficult to access data in corporate systems.

Therefore, providing mobile labor is a must for an hour. Companies developing mobile applications, especially those related to enterprise mobility, must take extra precautions to protect their products, as this also puts their reputation at risk.Below are 3 ways to expand your knowledge of mobile app security to help you create, deploy, and run secure mobile apps.

1. Learn more about common application attacks.

There are many reports and studies on the state of mobile security, as well as on the most vulnerable areas of enterprises in terms of the security of mobile devices. Find out about the efforts organizations are making to develop their mobile security. Where are they missing? What about mobile security budgets? How to prioritize investments in mobile security? Exploring the landscape of mobile security will help you find answers to these and many other questions.You can also read popular blog posts on mobile device security, like this one written by Paul Ionescu, head of the ethical hacking team at IBM, where he discusses 10 vulnerabilities that OWASP or the Open Security Application Project face.There are several similar materials on the Internet. For example, there are webinars to help you understand the security of mobile applications. The goal is to find out as many security issues and vulnerabilities as possible, and then focus on those that are relevant to your organization.

2. Protect your code to create a secure mobile application

As a rule, mobile malware detects errors in the design and coding of your mobile application. A 2013 Kindsight study found that more than 11.6 million mobile devices were infected with malicious code, and their numbers are growing rapidly.This problem is so serious that hackers can easily get a public copy of your applications and reverse engineer it even before you can exploit the vulnerability. As already pointed out in the Arnax study, many popular applications now contain malicious code. They are called “fraudulent applications,” and hackers place them in various third-party application stores, tricking unsuspecting users and luring them to install these applications with malicious code. As a result, many innocent mobile users unknowingly put their devices and their data at risk.

To deal with such troubling problems, mobile app developers must provide their developers with reliable tools so that they can detect security vulnerabilities and take the necessary actions to protect their code and applications from any kind of hacking and reverse engineering. Even consumer applications must go through such a protection process to ensure the security of the device and the data of your users.

3. Overview of case studies from large organizations

A case study overview will help you understand how large organizations are improving their security measures. Better yet, focus on case studies that cover both web application developers and mobile application developers, and how they detect and fix vulnerabilities in their software development life cycle to ensure the security of their applications.

Let’s look at an example of this IBM client to see how they have enhanced the security protection of their applications. This case study explains how IBM Security AppScan software enables application developers to easily and effortlessly scan code for malicious code and other vulnerabilities. Shortly after registering it, IBM Security AppScan will detect and display vulnerable code so developers can take the necessary action. Using this software, this particular client tested his application in the early stages of the software development life cycle to ensure peace of mind for its developers, managers and customers.This IBM client also frequently tested his application to identify and fix vulnerabilities that arise during the final stage of product development. The whole approach helped the organization reduce protection costs by up to 95 times.

In addition, you can read other resources to help you learn how to detect and eliminate mobile app security attacks. For instance, IBM Application Security in the cloud helps you succeed application security perils while at the same time allowing you to prioritize time to market for your new mobile application. Find tools to help you identify security issues in your application and provide detailed reports showing vulnerabilities, and recommend remediation steps to fix security issues. For more information visit our site HTMLPRO