Taking a multi-pronged approach to protecting your application involves staying up to date with mobile app security best practices. We recommend these steps to keep your users safe, protect your intellectual property, and safeguard your brand reputation.
The details of the specific security measures you’ll use to protect your mobile apps will continue to change as applications change. However, there are some examples of application security best practices that will always be an ideal baseline to follow.
Here are just a few of the best practices we recommend following.
There are plenty of application security examples that apply here. For example, adding input validation, output coding, and proper error handling to your application on both desktop and mobile devices can make a difference. It can prevent common types of attempted attacks like SQL injection and cross-site scripting (XSS). Adopting these coding practices from the very beginning of your development lifecycle makes your application harder for hackers to exploit.
Data encryption is a must for mobile application security because it gives you multiple extra layers of protection. Using code and control flow obfuscation as encryption tools allows you to prevent injection attacks and take a layered approach to hardening your application.
However, this should go beyond renaming your source code. While doing so changes the names of methods, variables, and other elements in your code to make them harder to understand, it still leaves some room for attackers to crack your source code.
Implementing and enhancing your systems of authentication and authorization makes it harder for attackers to get where they don’t belong.
Use multi-factor authentication as a requirement, and ensure only specific, authorized users have access to sensitive data with role-based access control (RBAC). After all, it only takes one person not removed from your network to give out an old login to cause a world of trouble for your organization.
One of the most critical ways to beef up security for mobile applications is to ensure the back end is safe. In many cases, this entails using pruning features like those offered by Dotfuscator. These features allow you to better secure your source code by removing unused fields and types from the most vulnerable areas of your code.
This is essential for protecting your API’s endpoints. Input validation helps you add a protective layer to secure your API traffic. It is also an essential part of ensuring your app’s API follows the same best practices as your native application.
Even more, it gives hackers a smaller surface area they can exploit within your application as a whole.
The vast majority of applications rely on open-source libraries to some extent to function correctly. While this is great for saving hundreds of hours and using reliable frameworks during the development process, it does leave your application open to known vulnerabilities.
One of the best ways to protect your open-source code from hackers is to update it as soon as updates are available for your libraries and frameworks and check for them often. This can help you prevent becoming the new Equifax and protect your user data.
Encrypted communication practices can make a difference in protecting the data your users and app send to each other. Some of the most trusted communication protocols include TLS and multifactor authentication for sensitive parts of your application.
This can prevent hackers from eavesdropping and reduces the likelihood of middleman attacks while your users communicate with the app.
As the old saying goes, if you see something, say something.
Educating your app’s user base and your staff on a regular basis can help you prevent costly security breaches. Encourage them to report potential issues to you as soon as they’re aware of them—this can help you prevent serious problems due to a misclicked link or accidentally giving away their credentials through a phony version of your login page.
Make sure everyone who touches your application knows about your security practices—including enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) and not sharing your password or 2FA security code.
Having these regular reminders and training makes it easier for your users to be alert.
Your security policies should adhere to industry security standards and regulations as much as possible. Reviewing and updating your policies on a regular basis allows you to take a proactive approach to emerging cybersecurity threats.
No matter what they’re doing with your application, whether it’s developing new code or testing it in the later parts of the development process, your development and testing team should always be aware of the standards they need to meet. Conducting training sessions with them makes this practice easier to enforce.
PreEmptive’s suite of mobile application protection programs enables developers to protect all types of mobile apps and keep their users safe. With hackers becoming smarter and smarter every day, PreEmptive’s tools allow you to utilize obfuscation, runtime checks, and other methods to protect your application.
PreEmptive provides multi-layered application defense with the following programs:
See what PreEmptive’s suite of application security tools can do to protect your app. Request your free trial.