From customer management to day-to-day operations, mobile apps are now an integral part of every modern company, representing the core of business operations. The constant increase in the use of mobile devices increases the associated cyber risks. As such, mobile app security is starting to become a real strategic priority within organisations to protect their data and maintain the trust of customers and partners.
Mobile app security, what it is and why it is important.
Mobile security encompasses all technologies, methodologies, and best practices designed to protect mobile applications from threats such as malware, hacker attacks, and data theft. However, protecting a mobile app doesn’t just mean defending against external attacks. Hackers often look for quick ways to breach systems by identifying application vulnerabilities, which are often caused by insecure code, misconfigurations, or overly permissive settings.
Here are some of the most common vulnerabilities:
- Insecure Code: Programming errors can make the application vulnerable to exploits and data theft.
- Improper Session Management: User sessions that are not properly configured (e.g. they do not expire after a period of inactivity or remain active indefinitely) can be exploited for attacks such as Session Fixation or Session Hijacking.
- Backend Configurations: The app may not enforce granular access controls or fail to validateserver-side requests. This allows attacks like Broken Access Control, where an attacker can access unauthorized data or manipulate the app’s functionalities.
- Insufficient Validation of Application Communications: Several mobile apps tested over the years by Mobisec have shown issues with improper configuration of SSL/TLS certificates or the use of unencrypted connections to transmit sensitive data. This allows attackers to carry out Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks, intercepting and manipulating the information exchanged between the app and the server.
Why is Mobile App Security crucial?
Mobile apps have become one of the main entry points for cyberattacks. Over 30% of targeted attacks at the enterprise level today involve mobile applications (source: ‘Mobile Threat Landscape Report 2024’). Hackers exploit vulnerabilities such as lack of encryption or the use of insecure APIs to access sensitive data or compromise business systems.
And it’s not just about technical risks. The consequences of an attack can be devastating for your business, including:
- Financial losses due to downtime and system recovery.
- Reputational damage that reduces customer trust and market competitiveness.
- Legal penalties, especially in sectors regulated by stringent regulations such as GDPR, NIS2, and DORA.
How to protect your Mobile Apps?
Protecting your applications means adopting an integrated approach. This includes:
- Penetration Testing: attack simulations to identify vulnerabilities.
- Secure coding practices: ensuring that the code is written according to the best security practices.
- Automatic security assessment: a solution that allows for the quick and automated identification of common vulnerabilities within the mobile app, enabling the development team to address issues before the app is released to the market. However, it has limitations, as it doesn’t identify vulnerabilities related to development logic or interactions with the operating system or other apps, which can only be detected through a thorough test. Perform a quick initial test on your app with our free tool.
Discover how Mobisec can help you.
Mobile app security is a complex challenge. Mobisec offers customized and advanced solutions for protecting your mobile applications, from the development phase to production monitoring.
Is your app secure? Learn more about our Mobile App Security service to understand how we can support you.