Mobile Application Security to protect user data – The Need of the Hour
With the number of cyber-attacks increasing day by day it has become crucial to have strong security to protect the user data.
The users of mobile phones are increased drastically and mobile application security is as important as website security.
We need to understand that mobile application is neither a feature nor a benefit but a necessity. Imagine mobile app security is not so strong and one data breach could cost you a fortune.
This is why you should include a code signing certificate that allows only the authorized software to sign the executable files, scripts, and codes.
Developers will be busy developing the application that is user friendly, secured, and innovative but to include the code signing certificate to the applications is the basic to protect against cyber-attacks and data breaches.
Without a code signing certificate, one attack can make the criminals aware of your name, address, contact details, credit card information, and many more. They exchange personal data from hackers to hackers which are a problem at one point or the other.
What is a code signing certificate?
A Code Signing Certificate is a simple digital signature technology that allows only authorized software publishers to sign and also only their executable scripts, code, and content to authenticate their identification.
It makes sure that the software publishers and consumers the safety of software executable code and content. Code Signing Certificate contains a digital signature for 32-bit and 64-bit.
Moreover, the software that is signed with a Code Signing Certificate indicates the user he is using the genuine version of the software and is verified by the certificate authority. It gives confidence that the code is not tampered or changed.
Let us see some of the benefits of using the Code Signing Certificate in mobile application safety and security:
- It builds trust and confidence so that the users are rest assured to use the content.
- Determines if the software publisher is authentic or not.
- Code Signing Certificate by default boosts the number of downloads of apps as the user feels it is safe.
- Creates a trustworthy feeling of the brands.
- Helps in boosting the software publisher reputation
- Most of all it is very compatible with all Windows Operation systems.
However, you should know that the main aim of the code signing certificate is to know for the users and the customers where the applications are coming from, who created them if they are safe to download or not.
Overall, this helps the audience to trust you and helps in the number of downloading of software.
A code signing certificate competently provides security to the developers and application users as well with their sealed digital signatures.
With every day increasing cyber threats and the security at stake, mobile app developers should at any cost include the code signing certificate. Here are 8 ways developers can build security into their apps:
Source Code Encryption:
Encrypting the source code often removes the software bugs. Mobile application malware increase the risk of bugs and the vulnerability of the data Reports suggests that codes destroy the mobile devices also.
For example, JavaScript is very simple to modify so encrypting it, will make it more impossible for hackers to gain access.
Understand Platform-specific Limitations:
The first and fore step is you need to understand is the limitations you can set. You can set multiple mobile software systems by understanding the platform features, code, password security, location, security features, and also data for the operating system and accordingly distribute.
Support Integration with MAM/MDM:
MDM (Mobile device management) and MAM (mobile app management) are the latest solutions that most of the organizations are solutions are now being used to tackle with device-related threat issues.
With the help of MDM and MAM, you can use apps for security layers to protect the organizations from attacks.
To further increase the mobile application security it is a must for MDM/MAM to integrate into mobile software for providing high security.
Secure the Data-in-transit:
Sensitive information that is sent from the client to backend servers needs to be protected to ensure zero privacy leaks and data theft.
With securing the data in transit, developers can be rest assured that the data is strictly intact to support for VPN or SSL tunnels, thereby protecting data from eavesdropping and theft.
Use the Latest Cryptography Techniques:
Using the latest cryptography techniques like MD5 and SHA is not sufficient these days for providing security so it is a must to get updated and use SHA 256.
Using the modern encryption methods such as AES with 256-bit encryption and SHA-256 for hashing is the best bet these days to survive against cyber-attacks.
Also, you should implement a penetration test and a threat modeling to see the strength of the mobile application security that is being provided before going live.
Deploy Proper Session Handling:
You should know that the fact that sessions on mobile smartphones much be more than the desktops thus making the session handlings difficult for the harder.
The best way to handle the session is to use the tokens in the place of device identifiers to acknowledge the identifiers.
However, tokens can be revoked at any point in time and this feature makes them more secure in case of any stolen devices. This helps to wipe off and log off the remote data from a lost and stolen market.
Use High-Level Authentication:
Next is strong password authentication. It seems simple but this is the most complicated and important part of security.
Keeping in mind the high-level authentication, you can design the software programs in such a way that they accept the only strong combination of passwords. Multi-factor authentication is the only way of having control over the applications to avoid any data breaches.
In the case of overly sensitive apps, biometric authentication like retina scan and fingerprints can be used too.
Use Authorized APIs Only:
Another vulnerability to mobile app attacks is the loose API code. The API codes that are not technically coded are always an easy way for hackers to misuse the data available.
So, it is possible for catching authorization helps the programmers to reuse the same information when making the API calls. Thus making it easy for the coders but it is a loophole for the hijackers.
APIs that aren’t authorized and are loosely coded can unintentionally grant hacker privileges that can be misused gravely. For example, caching authorization Experts recommend that APIs be authorized centrally for maximum security.
Conclusion:
There is a drastic rise in the usage of mobile application over the last few years and the major part of e-commerce business that has seen the surge.
Today almost 80 percent of the purchases are happening on the mobile smart phones and it is high the developers will come up with the best security for the mobile applications. One such technology is code signing certificate. You cannot go wrong with this and will guarantee the strong encryption to all the mobile apps.
You can go a long way if follow these above mentioned tips for the best user experience and environment.
