The Importance Of App Security In This Modern World
With the growing reliance of human beings on their mobile phones, the need for app security has become one of the most crucial talking points not only in the world of tech but also in the court of law across borders. Technology has evolved much in the recent decade, and so have hackers!
Different applications like escape room bangalore to simply shopping apps, all store user’s data for a better customer experience. Hackers have devised new and advanced ways to break into the system and get access to this data. With time, as the applications grow to become more complex, hackers too update their skill set to hack into the system efficiently. It, in turn, has led to the significant rise of cybercrimes that continue to happen worldwide.
According to reports, approximately 4000 cyber-crimes take place daily in the US alone. Of course, these are just the cases that are reported, and surely there do exist others that might not even be reported! With the increasing percentage of cyber-crimes and security breaches that happen worldwide, there is no doubt why app security has become so crucial these days. With that, let us understand:
What is App security?
Just as the name suggests, app security comprises all those measures taken at the level of the application to protect the data contained and prevent it from getting hacked. It helps in regulating and improving the security of the entire app in general. It, therefore, helps in finding out, fixing, and even preventing any possible security breach in the future.
Why do you think app security is so important?
Nowadays, starting from bank transactions to online purchases or bookings, everything is done through apps these days. For the better functioning of these apps, businesses work on taking and storing the users’ data on their systems. Thus, as all such sensitive data remains stored on these apps, app security is all the more crucial.
With almost every business relying so much on their apps these days, it becomes important to ensure the security of these apps too. By looking into the facets of app security, businesses will be able to:
- Significantly reduce the amount of risk from both internal as well as any kind of third-party sources.
- Efficiently maintain the reputation of the brand/business by keeping off the headlines.
- Protect the data of the customers and thus help in building greater confidence in the minds of the customer.
- Protect the more sensitive data that is stored in the app from any kind of leakage and breaches.
- Build and gain more trust from among your investors.
- Remotely delete data from older devices that are no longer in use. It can also help in preventing leakage of data from devices that are misplaced or stolen.
What are the common kinds of security threats for apps?
While you may now be aware of the importance of app security for your business, let us check out the common kinds of security threats for your app.
1. Data Theft
Data theft is the most common kind of security threat for your app. As apps remain loaded with the data of the user, any kind of leakage of data that can happen is a very serious issue. Even though there might be cases wherein data leakage occurs unintentionally, sometimes the reason may be otherwise.
Data leakage can occur due to giving too many permissions and overloading the app with data without having proper security measures in place. Certain malicious apps called riskware can easily transfer this data remotely to other devices, thus leading to cyber-crimes.
2. Broken Cryptography
Another common app security threat can be the result of broken cryptography. It largely happens when during the process of app development, certain weak encryption algorithms are used. Often app developers are found to rely on the usage of certain algorithms that have well-known security vulnerabilities simply because they accelerate the entire process.
It might be because of this lax security that criminals and hackers get access to the data and use it for improper purposes.
3. Session Handling Issues
Session tokens are used by various apps these days on both mobile phones and PCs. They act as a mode of convenience for the user as then they can log in without any necessary re-authentication. But even this means of convenience can lead to something quite dangerous!
Somehow these session tokens can fall into the wrong hands or get shared with unknown threat actors. It can then lead to hackers getting easy access to any kind of data they find on the system.
4. Reverse Engineering
Yet another way in which threats to app security can take place is by the process of reverse engineering. According to various studies, this is the major cause of most of the security breaches that happen these days.
By this technique, hackers get their delightful gateway to every necessary bit of information. From the source code of the app to all its algorithms and assets, everything opens up to hackers. They can then use the present vulnerabilities of the app to their advantage and gain access to the data they need.
5. Client-Side Injection
By this technique, hackers can now run malicious codes on the devices simply from the target application itself. Furthermore, it even gives hackers the much-needed passage to the various aspects of the user’s device too. They can then even change or modify the settings of the user’s device upon their command.
Conclusion
App security is not a fancy, far-away-world term that only developers and tech companies need to worry about. You have to remember that it is your personal data across various platforms that are on the line. The best way to prevent data theft is to educate yourself and be mindful of what type of information you are putting out on the internet.
