Google IO Recap: Firebase, Jetpack, Kotlin, and R8

May 15, 2019 573 Views Matt Insko

PreEmptive had the opportunity to send a couple of representatives to Google IO this year. IO 2019 didn't tell us what dessert starts with a Q, but it did showcase some great tools and frameworks as well as provide insight into the direction of Android:

Firebase and Jetpack speed up development and allow better compatibility with older platforms. Google reinforced its commitment to Kotlin stating that most of their samples and frameworks will be available first in Kotlin and later to standard Java. R8 is now the default for minification. Android will do more on-device processing to ensure better privacy.

At PreEmptive, we have similar goals:

Staying up-to-date with the latest features of Android development while maintaining compatibility with older platforms.
Support for Kotlin since DashO v8.3 (2017).
Support for R8.
On-device Checks which help protect application data.

The highlight of the trip was the ability for face-to-face meetings with Google employees. We were able to discuss what we have done to incorporate R8 with DashO's Gradle Plugin for Android (available with the DashO 10 Beta) and found we were on the same page regarding the direction of R8. We actually had a chance encounter with a developer who needed a specific piece of advice which we had already listed on The Unofficial R8 Documentation.

Overall, it was a great experience. There was a lot of information to cover in such a limited time. As in prior years, sessions were recorded and are available on YouTube. We recommend the following sessions as they provide a general overview of Android developments:

Latest NIST publication reinforces Developer Obligations (and liability)

On June 11, NIST released Mitigating the Risk of Software Vulnerabilities by Adopting a Secure Software Development Framework. While a solid piece of work in its own right, this document is noteworthy because it stands as one more proof point - in an already long list of proof points, that development processes, the developers themselves, and the organizations they belong to, ALL share some degree of responsibility (liability) for:

Untrusted Environments, Valuable Apps? Put the Protection in the App.

IT environments are evolving. Disappearing are the days of in-house, fixed-endpoint, limited access server stacks — replaced instead by a combination of private and public cloud solutions, mobile applications and IoT devices.

As noted by research firm IDC, public cloud spending now outpaces all other IT infrastructure with a growth rate topping 10 percent year-over-year, while Statista reports that users downloaded more than 178 billion apps in 2017 alone — and are on track to break 250 billion over the next few years.

What does this mean for organizations? That application environments are quickly moving beyond the purview of in-house IT, exposing both apps and network services to steadily growing risk. It creates a paradox: Companies can’t deny the benefits of third-party environments and application partnerships, but also can’t ignore the threat of app and data compromise or reverse-engineering and tampering.

In a recent developer survey, Xamarin.Android developers were 50% less likely to have included rooted device detection or anti-tamper prevention as their Java Android peers were. Yet, both sets of apps are being deployed through the same marketplaces onto the same devices and are governed by the same regulations (PCI, GDPR, HIPAA to name just a few that expect these kinds of controls).

Why are more Xamarin.Android apps going unprotected?

I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Sebastian Holst, PreEmptive’s Chief Strategy Officer, to talk about his most recent trip to Capitol Hill where the topic of the day was copyright protection for small businesses – and for development shops in particular.

The life of a security architect is rarely simple. Assessing, defending and improving corporate networks requires thorough knowledge of industry best practices designed to secure critical data, combined with real-world understanding of hacker tricks and tactics meant to undermine this purpose.

As noted by the InfoSec Institute, this is an in-demand job that often comes with high expectations, odd hours and the need for constant professional evolution to stay ahead of cybercriminal threats. Complicating matters is the breakneck pace of technological advancement. The rapid rise of cloud deployments, mobile applications and IoT devices can make even best-laid security strategies seem like flies in amber — hopelessly out-of-date and effectively immobile.

Here’s a look at what’s really bugging security architects — and how they can break the mold of static security to combat emerging threats.

Google IO Recap: Firebase, Jetpack, Kotlin, and R8

Latest NIST publication reinforces Developer Obligations (and liability)

Put the Protection in the App

Untrusted Environments, Valuable Apps? Put the Protection in the App.

Are Xamarin.Android app users at risk?

Changes are coming for US Copyright – Should Developers Even Care?

Fly in Amber: What’s Bugging Infosec Architects?

Latest Blog Posts

Latest NIST publication reinforces Developer Obligations (and liability)

Put the Protection in the App

Are Xamarin.Android app users at risk?

Changes are coming for US Copyright – Should Developers Even Care?

Fly in Amber: What’s Bugging Infosec Architects?

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