Contact Us Blog Register Login
PreEmptive -
  • Home
  • Products
    • Application Protection
      • Dotfuscator for .NET
        • Overview
        • Features
        • Compare Editions
        • Xamarin Protection
        • Videos & Resources
        • Pricing
        • Downloads
      • DashO for Android & Java
        • Overview
        • Features
        • Videos & Resources
        • Pricing
        • Downloads
      • JSDefender for JavaScript
        • Overview
        • Features
        • Online Demo
        • Pricing
        • Downloads
      • PreEmptive Protection for iOS
        • Overview
  • Support
    • Product Support
      • Dotfuscator for .NET
      • DashO for Android & Java
      • JSDefender for JavaScript
      • PreEmptive Protection for iOS
    • Resources
      • White Papers
      • Glossary
      • Videos
  • Solutions
    • App Protection Solutions
      • Mobile App Protection
      • Desktop & Server App Protection
      • General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
      • Security Development Lifecycle
      • Application Integrity Protection
      • Mobile RASP
      • PCI Mobile Payment Acceptance Security
  • Company
    • About
      • Why PreEmptive?
      • About Us
      • Careers
      • Blog
    • Contact
    • Legal

Reconciling GooglePlay's security recommendations with Xamarin deployment

February 25, 2016 9080 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 :).

Categories

  • Dotfuscator

  • Dotfuscator CE

  • DashO

  • JSDefender

  • Press Releases

  • Mobile Protection

  • Risk Management

  • Support Corner

Latest Blog Posts

Protecting Java applications that use Jackson for JSON



JSON is a standard format for sharing objects and data within an application. When working in Java, there is no built-in support for JSON processing. There are, however, several widely-used libraries and options to choose from. In this article, we will focus on Jackson, which is one of the most popular.

Read more

Protecting C# applications that use AutoMapper



AutoMapper is an object-to-object mapping system used by many of our customers. It aims to simplify and organize code responsible for sharing instance values from an object of one type to an object of a different type.

Read more

Inventa, Wireless Technology Company, Protects their Android Application with DashO



Inventa, a Wireless Technology Company, Protects their Android Application with DashO

The Beginnings of Inventa

Having worked in the wireless mobile technology domain in the US, Anand Virani, became intrigued by the growing tech and wireless trends and wanted to explore the field more for himself. He noticed a boom in the Internet of Things (IoT) and that smartphones were becoming more central to how people interacted with each other at home, in the office, and in public places. What if there was a way phones could connect with each other without the need for Internet or cloud access? Smartphones were the future and Virani was determined to make a profitable business model based on this new trend.

Read more

Surgical Theater Protects their Medical Applications with Dotfuscator



Surgical Theater Protects their Medical Applications with Dotfuscator

How It All Started

How is flying a fighter plane similar to performing neurosurgery? They have more in common than you’d think. In 2005, Monty Avisar and Alon Geri, two Israeli fighter pilots were assigned to work with Lockheed Martin to build a $50 million F-16 Flight Simulator program for the Israeli Air Force to improve hand-eye coordination skills for their pilots during combat. Avisar took on the role of project manager and Geri served as senior engineer; the project was a success.

Four years later in 2009, the two finished their military service in Israel and moved to Cleveland, Ohio. Their experience working in virtual reality applications inspired them to wonder where this technology could also be applied. With several connections to surgeons, the two came to understand the ins and outs of operation procedures; in a similar way, surgeons were also working on a battlefield. What if surgeons could also train like fighter pilots and preview their surgical procedure, much like a fighter pilot could pre-fly their mission? The surgeons could pre-plan the operation from every angle and every approach to increase their situational awareness. And a year later, Surgical Theater was born.

Read more

Integrating DashO into a Maven Build



Maven is perhaps the most widely-used project management tool for Java. Based on the Project Object Model (POM), it is used not only for compilation of source code, but also dependency management, documentation, running tests, packaging, deployment, and more. We are frequently asked if we have a Maven plugin for running DashO. Though we do not offer a specific Maven plugin, adding DashO to your Maven-based project is surprisingly easy by leveraging Ant.

Read more

preemptive logo

767 Beta Dr. Suite A
Mayfield Village, OH 44143

Tel: +1 440.443.7200

solutions@preemptive.com

Latest Blog Posts

Protecting Java applications that use Jackson for JSON

December 30, 2020
Read more

Protecting C# applications that use AutoMapper

November 18, 2020
Read more

Inventa, Wireless Technology Company, Protects their Android Application with DashO

November 10, 2020
Read more

Surgical Theater Protects their Medical Applications with Dotfuscator

October 30, 2020
Read more

GlobalMed Finds Success by Switching to JSDefender

October 21, 2020
Read more

Twitter

@baldbeardbuild @GirlsWhoCode @baldbeardbuild thanks so much for inspiring us to be BUILDERS in our own community!… https://t.co/U6AyqPDhsa Jan 14 • reply • retweet • favorite

Copyright © 2020 PreEmptive

  • Home
  • Contact Support
  • Blog
  • Contact
Scroll to Top

PreEmptive uses cookies to improve the functionality of our website. By using this site, you agree to the use of cookies.