What Can App Developers Do to Improve In-App Security?
By: Ollie Mercer
Tags: Security, Information Technology, Application Security, Information Security, Application Development

Not so long ago, security experts uncovered a Trojan virus called Gustuff designed especially for Android phones. Gustuff phished data and automated transactions of over 100 Android banking apps. And that’s only one such security threat the world’s most popular smartphone operating system faced.

Competition is no longer the biggest challenge Android developers face. It’s security. Also quite recently, a new report states that pre-installed apps on Android phones put users’ privacy at serious risk. Developers can no longer shirk off responsibility. Read below to learn more about security threats Android apps face and what developers can do about it:

Security Threats Android Apps Face

Computers mainly face security threats from the web. The Android operating system, on the other hand, faces threats mainly from applications. Malicious parties use apps to surreptitiously install malware on users’ phones. App developers, though, need to worry more about malicious hackers trying to infiltrate their systems.

Android apps exist in the APK file format, which is intended to compress programs to save space. This file format does not have any in-built forms of protection. As a result, anyone with some technical knowledge can decompile an APK file and get access to the code. Then it will be possible to create tools to pilfer data from preinstalled apps.

App developers who build data collection tools into their apps should be particularly concerned about malicious hackings. When you run a commercial app, the last thing you want is a cyber-thief to exploit your app. Consumers will not return to your product after a hacker exploits it.

Remember, if your app has an online access version for computers, like the Whatsapp desktop messaging program offers, your app would be even more vulnerable to hacking. If the desktop version is hacked, it’s not impossible that the Android version might be too.

While Alphabet, the owner of Android, includes some tools to secure APK code, it’s really up to app developers to keep their own programs secure. Read on to learn more about these security tools.

What Can App Developers Do?

Don’t just leave app security in the hands of Android. Do the following to make your apps secure starting from the early stages of development:

Use SSL Certificate

Sometimes, simple and easy is the way to go. You should make the connection between the app and it’s the web somewhat safe with HTTPS. This licensing system encrypts data transmitted by your website, making it significantly less hackable.

Using an SSL certificate is a simple and easy method to indicate that a developer takes app security seriously. This method, though, is not wholly secure. Malicious actors can still gain access. To completely prevent data theft, keep reading below.

Enable Multi-Factor Authentication

Who has access to your app? For most companies, the answer is anyone. Authentication, not authorization, is essential to prevent malicious users from gaining access. For example, if the developers banned a user for stealing, what’s stopping that same user from accessing the app again?

Authentication allows apps developers to ensure that the person logging in is who they say they are. Multi-factor authentications protect both the developers and the users. Developers who whose multi-factor authentication are less likely to get attacked by Trojan horses, keyloggers, or any type of smokescreen attach.

Users, too, can be assured that multi-factor authentications keep their passwords safe. This simple in-built security tool makes it difficult for a hacker to guess a password and get lucky. Therefore, developers should look beyond authorization and invest in authentication tools during agile development.

Secure the Code

Securing your app code is one of the most basic security steps you should take as an Android developer. There are several ways to obfuscate your code so that the end user cannot read it. Many developers use ProGuard to obfuscate Java.

ProGuard is available by default on Android Studio. If it’s not, make sure your “buildType” has enabled the “release” option. ProGuard is popular because not only does it make your code unreadable, it can also compress the code and make it more efficient. Developers can also customize ProGuard to a certain extent by writing your own rules.

While ProGuard is great, it only works on Java. You will have to download another obfuscation tool for JavaScript Code, such as JScrambler. You can shop for any of these as you like But the code must be made unreadable and indecipherable for the end user for long-term protection.

Encrypt Your Code

Obfuscation tools only make your code harder to read. It doesn’t render it incomprehensible, which is what encryption does. Encrypted data is not readable even if it is hacked.

You must encrypt data stored on external drives, as this information is not difficult to get into. As with obfuscation, there are plenty of encryption tools to use. It’s best if you use a newer encryption method as hackers have been at older encryption modules for some time.

Protect the Network Connection

Hackers can try to pilfer sensitive information as it travels between the app server and the client’s device. In other words, nefarious third-parties can camp out and eavesdrop on a network connection. App developers may think moving data onto the cloud protects it, but in reality, not quite.

App developers can keep data safe through a method called “containerization.” It essentially creates encryption containers to safeguard the site. However, network security doesn’t stop here.

App developers should conduct penetration tests to check for vulnerabilities in code. These tests may even point out potential camped out hackers. Developers need to team up with network specialists to do this.

And don’t forget database encryption for network servers. SSL, TLS, and even VPNs are all part of database protection.

Important Considerations

Proper app development security doesn’t happen overnight. It would, in fact, take a security strategy to completely safeguard the app’s data. Developers should plan ahead to make security an integral component in the early stages of agile development.

On another note, limiting data collection is really a great way to keep your app secure. When your app rakes in all kind of customer data, it becomes a prime target for hackers. Also, data gathering is highly controversial these days. You can win on two fronts by not becoming yet another data broker on mobile.

Android app security isn’t ideal at this point. But even the simplest steps can remarkably improve how well protected an app is. Therefore, don’t wait until it’s too late to implement app security.

About the Author

Ollie Mercer is a tech professional and freelance blogger. He had an early academic background in programming, before deciding to become an independent entrepreneur. When he’s not blogging, Ollie works on a personal coding project that might one day change the world.