Reconciling GooglePlay's security recommendations with Xamarin deployment

February 25, 2016 7250 Views Sebastian Holst

An app control that both Microsoft and Google can get behind? What about Xamarin?

First - Congratulations Xamarin (and Microsoft) - as someone who has used Xamarin personally and worked with the people professionally, I see this as a win-win-win (for Xamarin, Microsoft, and, last but not least, developers!).

To the topic at hand... One might argue that the phrase "GooglePlay security recommendations" is a contradiction in terms or even oxymoronic - but I take a different view. If (EVEN) Google recommends a security practice to protect your apps - then it must REALLY be a basic requirement - one that should not be ignored.

I'm talking about basic obfuscation to prevent reverse engineering and tampering.

Here's an excerpt from Android's developer documentation

"To ensure the security of your application, particularly for a paid application that uses licensing and/or custom constraints and protections, it's very important to obfuscate your application code." ...and they go on to write "The use of ProGuard or a similar program to obfuscate your code is strongly recommended for all applications that use Google Play Licensing." (I did NOT add the emphasis)

For those unfamiliar with ProGuard - it's a free/open source obfuscator - quite a good one really for the money ;) - but seriously - it's kind of an analog to Dotfuscator Community Edition included with Visual Studio (also for free). The point being that both Google and Microsoft have long recognized that basic controls to prevent reverse engineering need to be ubiquitously available to every developer (no one is suggesting all apps be obfuscated).

...but what about Xamarin apps targeting Android or iOS? ...not so much. ProGuard cannot obfuscate Xamarin apps - nor can any of the other native Java/Android obfuscators (including PreEmptive's own DashO). ...But (good news) Dotfuscator Professional can. ...But (bad news) it's not free. Still, if you're serious about this topic, you'd probably want something other than the "free version" on either platform. Here's a link to a PreEmptive blog post on how to protect your Xamarin apps with Dotfuscator (both iOS and Android): Xamarin Applications and Dotfuscator.

Question: Given the Microsoft Xamarin acquisition, should we (PreEmptive/Microsoft) consider extending Dotfuscator CE (the free one) to provide comparable protection to Android and iOS apps generated by Xamarin as we do for .NET apps today (and since 2003)?

Let me know your thoughts - I really do want to hear from Xamarin developers (and the app owners that employ them :).

RSAC 2019 Roundup: NIST Gets Structural as the NSA Goes Open Source

The booths are gone, the lights are off and the conference halls are empty. It’s a wrap for RSAC 2019, but IT pros aren’t going home empty-handed: Here’s a roundup of this year’s key topics, critical outcomes and biggest surprises.

No “I” in Team

This year’s RSA Conference opted for a simple, one-word theme: Better.

While it’s certainly aspirational, what does it mean in practice? For RSA, it’s a recognition that security doesn’t happen in a vacuum, that infosec pros must work together to find better solutions, make better connections and make the world a better place. Given the often-fragmented nature of corporate IT security — RSA’s focus on empowering the “collective we” in cybersecurity makes sense: Evolving, adaptable threats won’t be defeated by companies operating in isolation.

There’s an app for that.

Apple’s (now trademarked) slogan is perhaps more telling than the company intended: Organizations rise and fall on the strength of applications — well-integrated, full-featured apps can help drive market success, while offerings more limited in scope and functionality may prove disastrous.

The sheer volume of both external and internal applications has also created a new challenge for companies: Risk management. Cybercriminals are both creating custom code and leveraging tools available on the Dark Web to compromise applications, steal corporate data and wreak network havoc.

GDPR fines were inevitable. Despite years of lead-up and months of warning before the legislation came into effect last May, many companies simply weren’t prepared for the complex (and evolving) nature of EU privacy expectations.

Now search giant Google is in the compliance law’s cross hairs: As noted by Bloomberg, Google has been assessed a $57 million fine because it “fails to adequately explain how it collects data to offer personalized advertising.” For some experts, the fine is a warning of things to come — companies must improve their data handling or face the consequences. For others, the penalties are a step too far with a purpose too vague.

The hard truth? No matter where opinions fall, GDPR fines are now out in full force — and your application could be next.

Hackers are winning. As noted by Information Age, data breach reports are up 75 percent over the last two years — while part of this increase is tied to emerging legislation and disclosure requirements, a quick look at tech headlines makes it clear that attackers are coming out ahead in the fight to keep corporate networks, applications and data secure.

But it’s not all bad news. Armed with knowledge of the current breach landscape — along with actionable insight to protect critical assets — organizations can start to even the score and put hackers on the defensive. Here’s what you need to know.

DashO 9.2 is available for immediate download and includes two powerful new controls:

1) Emulator Check, a new injectable control that

Detects when a hardened app is being executed on an emulator (even if that emulator is not rooted), and
Responds with the one or more pre-defined defenses and/or app-specific defenses – all in real-time.

Reconciling GooglePlay's security recommendations with Xamarin deployment

RSAC 2019 Roundup: NIST Gets Structural as the NSA Goes Open Source

No “I” in Team

Hardened Apps = Harder Target = Reduced Corporate Risk

GDPR Goes After Google — And Your App Could be Next

Data Breaches in 2019: Why the Hackers are Winning (And What You Can do About It)

Android Developers Gain Major App Security Boost with DashO v9.2

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RSAC 2019 Roundup: NIST Gets Structural as the NSA Goes Open Source

Hardened Apps = Harder Target = Reduced Corporate Risk

GDPR Goes After Google — And Your App Could be Next

Data Breaches in 2019: Why the Hackers are Winning (And What You Can do About It)

Android Developers Gain Major App Security Boost with DashO v9.2

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Reconciling GooglePlay's security recommendations with Xamarin deployment

No “I” in Team

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