Mobile application security assessment is a process that evaluates the security of mobile applications to identify and mitigate vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and potential threats that could be exploited maliciously. This assessment ensures a mobile app is robust and resistant to security risks such as data breaches and code manipulation.
Here’s a guide on how to conduct a mobile app security assessment.
- Define Objectives & Scope: Clearly state the goals and objectives for the assessment. Define the scope of the evaluation, including the aspects of the application that will be evaluated (e.g., code, network, the backend, and third-party integrations).
- Prepare and Plan: Assemble an experienced team of security professionals or engage a third-party security assessment service if needed. Establish a testing and production environment that mimics the production environment as closely as possible. Identify the tools, methods, and testing procedures to be used and document them.
- Information Gathering: Gather as much information about the app as possible, including its architecture, technology stack, and functionality. Collect documentation, source codes, and any threat models.
- Static Analysis: If the source code is available, perform a static analysis with automated tools or manually review the code to identify any vulnerabilities. Look for issues like insecure coding, data storage vulnerabilities, and improper API usage.
- Dynamic Analysis: Run the mobile app under controlled conditions and perform a dynamic analysis. Test the behavior of an app using automated scanning tools, emulators, or physical devices. Analyze runtime vulnerability, insecure API calls, and network communication.
- Penetration testing: Conduct penetration tests to simulate real-world attacks on the mobile application. Exploit any identified vulnerabilities and weaknesses. Verify the effectiveness and efficiency of security controls.
- Network Security Assessment: Analyze your app’s communication network to identify issues like insecure data transmission or improper encryption. Monitor network traffic, including interactions with backend services.
- Authentication and authorization: Test the app’s authentication and authorization. Verify that only authorized individuals can access certain features and data. Authentication and authorization tests session management, token handling, and token handling functionality.
- Data Storage Analysis: Assess how sensitive data are stored and protected on the mobile device. Check for encryption, secure storage, and access controls.
- Third-Party Library and Dependency Analyses: Assess third-party libraries and dependencies to identify known vulnerabilities. Ensure all third-party components have the latest security updates.
- Report Findings: Document any vulnerabilities, weaknesses, and security issues you identify. Describe each point in detail, including the potential impact and risk. Include recommendations for remediation.
- Remediation: Work with developers and stakeholders to prioritize and remediate identified security issues. Implement fixes and improvements to address vulnerabilities.
- Retest and verify: After remediation, retest the app to ensure that the security issues are successfully addressed. Verify that no new vulnerabilities were introduced during the remediation.
- Final Report: Prepare an executive summary of the assessment process and findings. Include any remediation efforts made. Also, include verification results. Prepare a risk assessment and make recommendations for ongoing security maintenance.
- Continuous Monitoring: Establish a process of continuous monitoring and periodic assessments to ensure that the app remains secure in its evolution.
It is important to remember that mobile app security assessment is continuous. It should be integrated into the app’s development cycle to maintain its security as new features and threats are added. Mobile app security is dependent on regular assessments and proactive measures.
Mobile App Security Assessment Methods
Here are some methods used in mobile app security assessment.
- Static Application Security Testing (SAST): SAST is the analysis of the mobile application’s source code, binary code, or bytecode without executing it. Automated tools scan the code to identify potential security vulnerabilities such as code flaws or insecure API usage. SAST can detect security issues early in the development phase.
- Dynamic App Security Testing (DAST): DAST tests the security of an app running on a mobile device by interacting with it as an attacker would. This method identifies vulnerabilities at runtime and issues relating to network communication, input validity, and authentication. DAST tools analyze the app’s responses to malicious input and send it to the app.
- Interactive application security testing (IAST): Combines aspects of both SAST and DAST. It can assess the security of an application while it’s running, and it has access to its source code. IAST tools give developers real-time feedback on application testing. They help them pinpoint the exact location of any vulnerabilities.
- Penetration Test: Also known as ethical hacking (manual simulation of attacks), penetration testing involves manually simulating the attacks on a mobile app to identify vulnerabilities. Security professionals try to exploit the weaknesses in an app’s security mechanism. Penetration tests provide a realistic assessment of how an attacker could breach the app.
- Code review: An in-depth manual review of source code by security specialists. This method thoroughly examines the source code to identify security issues and coding errors.
- Reverse engineering: Reverse engineering is the process by which the binary code of a mobile app is decompiled or disassembled to understand the inner workings. This method analyzes the app’s behavior, identifies vulnerabilities, and discovers hidden functionality that could pose a security threat.
- Network Security Assessment: This method involves monitoring the network traffic generated from the mobile application. Testers can identify data leaks, insecure communication channels, and data transmission and encryption vulnerabilities.
- Authentication & Authorization Testing: Assessing the app’s authentication and authorization processes. Testers look for weak authentication mechanisms and improper session management. They also check for unauthorized access to sensitive data and features.
- Data Storage Analysis: Evaluate the app’s storage and protect sensitive data, such as usernames, passwords, and personal information. This assessment focuses primarily on encryption, access control, and secure storage practices.
- Third-Party Library and Dependency Analyses: Identifying, assessing, and evaluating third-party libraries used in the application. These analyses ensure that these components are current and free of known security vulnerabilities.
- OWASP mobile security testing: Follow the guidelines and test methodologies outlined by the Open Web Application Security Project for mobile app testing. The OWASP Guide to Mobile App Security Testing provides a comprehensive framework for assessing mobile app security.
- Automated Scanners: Using automated security scanning tools for mobile app security assessments. These tools can quickly identify vulnerabilities and security flaws in mobile apps.
Mobile application security assessments often combine multiple methods to evaluate the app’s security posture holistically. The choice of method depends on factors like the complexity of the app, the development stage, and the organization’s security requirements. To maintain the security of mobile apps, developers should conduct regular security assessments and tests throughout the development cycle.
Pros and Cons of Mobile Application Security Assessments
Mobile application security assessments are essential for identifying and mitigating threats and vulnerabilities in mobile applications. Like any process, this one has its pros and cons.
The Pros of Mobile Application Security Assessment
- Improved security: The main benefit is enhanced safety. Security assessments identify vulnerabilities and weaknesses within mobile apps, allowing developers to fix them before malicious actors can exploit them. Fixing flaws proactively reduces the risk of data breaches and security incidents.
- Risk Reduction: By identifying security issues and addressing them early in the development cycle, organizations can reduce the risk of security breaches and their potential impact, which can be financially costly and in terms of reputational damage.
- Compliance: Security assessments are a great way to help organizations comply with regulatory and compliance requirements. These often require regular security testing, risk assessment, and mobile apps that handle sensitive data or operate in regulated industries.
- User trust: Demonstrating commitment to security via assessments and audits can build user trust. Users are more likely than not to continue to use apps that they know are secure.
- Cost-Efficiency: It’s more cost-effective for developers to fix security problems during development or testing than after the app has been deployed and used.
- Continuous improvement: Regular security assessments promote a culture that encourages continuous improvement in the security of mobile apps. Developers can integrate security best practices in their coding process by learning from past reviews.
Cons of Mobile Application Security Assessment
- Resource-Intensive: Security Assessments require expertise, time, and resources. The process of conducting comprehensive assessments can slow development, resulting in delays to the app’s release.
- False Negatives/False Positives: Scanners used for assessments can produce false negatives or false positives. These results can be time-consuming and require manual verification.
- Costs: Hiring security professionals and acquiring tools and licenses to conduct security assessments can be expensive. Budget constraints may be a problem for smaller development teams or startups.
- Complexity: Mobile applications can be complex with many components, third-party libraries, and dependencies. Assessing all aspects of app security can be challenging and may require a thorough understanding of mobile app development.
- Resistant to Change: Developers or organizations may resist changes or security recommendations that could affect an app’s functionality or the user experience. Finding the right balance between security and user-friendliness can be difficult.
- Scope limitations: Assessments might not cover all security aspects in detail. They may not reveal zero-day vulnerabilities or sophisticated attack vectors. Organizations must be aware of their limitations.
- Continuous Effort: Security is a constant process, and threats change over time. Regular assessments are required to maintain security and can be resource-intensive in the long run.
Mobile application security assessment is essential for identifying and mitigating risks but comes with challenges and resource requirements. Organizations should weigh the pros versus cons and integrate security assessments into their mobile app development and management processes to ensure the security of sensitive data and user confidence.
OWASP and Mobile Application Security Assessments
Mobile Application Security Assessment and Open Web Application Security Project work closely together to promote security best practices, provide guidelines, and offer resources for assessing and improving the security of mobile applications. Here’s how the two are connected:
- OWASP Mobile Security Project: OWASP is a project that focuses on mobile app security. This project produces tools, guidelines, and resources specifically tailored to assess and mitigate security risks in mobile applications.
- OWASP Mobile Top Ten: The OWASP Mobile Top Ten, also known as the OWASP Mobile Top Ten, is a list of security risks that are most common for mobile applications. It provides a framework to assess mobile app security. OWASP Mobile’s Top Ten is often used as a guideline to identify and prioritize mobile application vulnerabilities.
- OWASP Mobile Security Testing Guide: OWASP has published the Mobile Security Testing Guide – a comprehensive guide that outlines methods, techniques, and best practices to assess the security of mobile apps. This guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to conduct mobile app security assessments.
- OWASP mobile application security verification standard (MASVS): MASVS consists of a set of standards for the security of mobile apps. It defines the security requirements of various mobile app components, such as data storage and network communication. Mobile app security assessments may use MASVS to evaluate compliance with these standards.
- Mobile Security Checklist: The OWASP mobile security checklist is a quick reference that developers and security professionals can use to ensure they have addressed the most common security issues in mobile apps.
- Mobile Security Tools: The OWASP hosts a variety of open-source security libraries and tools designed for mobile app testing and analysis. These tools can help conduct mobile application security assessments.
- Community Collaboration: OWASP encourages collaboration between security professionals, developers, organizations, and others to share knowledge and experience related to mobile app safety. This collaborative environment encourages adopting best practices and continuous improvements in mobile app security.
In summary, OWASP’s extensive guidelines and community contributions to mobile app security are beneficial for mobile application security assessments. OWASP Mobile Security Project offers a structured approach and a wealth of information to help assessors, developers, and other stakeholders identify, understand, mitigate, and manage the security risks associated with mobile apps. Integrating OWASP into mobile app assessment processes can result in more comprehensive and effective security evaluations.