VAPT Services for Mobile Application Security

 As more and more businesses adopt a mobile-first approach for their applications, the importance of mobile security has never been greater. Security is required not only on endpoints but also in the app itself, which poses a challenge for the typical QA process. Using the latest cutting-edge tech to harden both your endpoints and app, you can easily mitigate attack surfaces and lock down both mobile apps and other associated controls from other threats of cybercrime.

Why do mobile applications require VAPT?

Mobile phones are increasingly becoming this world's most widely used devices. As a popular communication device, it is vulnerable to different categories of cyber-attacks and suffers from exposure to unknown vulnerabilities. There is also a lot of user data stored on mobile devices in the form of applications that can expose organizations actually or have the potential to expose their internal code design whether they’re android or iOS based. A mobile penetration test plays an important role in understanding if proper security measures are in place and exposes any bugs that make the data vulnerable since many users download apps of maybe incompatible software for in-house use which – as a direct consequence – become exposed to more potential risks than before.

App Types: -

·         Web apps: Normal web applications built-in HTML.

·         Native apps: Specifically built for a particular OS and uses OS-specific features.

·         Hybrid apps: Similar to native apps but behave like web apps leveraging the benefits of both types.

The first step to combat any potential threat is to analyze it and produce a list of the parameters that need close monitoring. These are handled by methodically checking the following parameters:

·         If an app stores a user's login credentials while they are being downloaded, such as in the Google Play Store, there is an increased risk of data leakage.

·         Mobile app developers must examine the security measures their apps have in place that require users to use their username, access codes, and other credentials for various services.

·         Attackers could exploit an app by eavesdropping on users’ sessions and hijacking them. Users must carefully assess the data they see in order to avoid being scammed into any phishing schemes.

·         High-speed internet allows apps to send and receive information quickly. Attackers can intercept this data, so it should all be encrypted.

A vulnerability study involves checking components at an advanced level, for example, the network, the phone’s operating system, and hardware. One must check the app for any security problems, whether their minders can react in real-time during a break-in and whether they safeguard their ports from infiltration. It is vital to ensure that glitches are corrected immediately because even a small weakness can lead to serious losses both for businesses and users if it isn’t taken care of as quickly as possible.

How to perform mobile app security testing?

When conducting penetration testing of mobile applications, it is very important for the tester to take into consideration certain features. The following could be a checklist for the same:

Nature of the Apps: Depending on the nature of any application, things may differ in terms of security. Financial and banking apps are required to have the most secure application possible because it is crucial that none of your user’s financial details ends up in the wrong hands. On the other hand, gaming or entertainment applications require no such level of scrutiny because losing data doesn't necessarily mean your user base will be left out of pocket – they'll just get frustrated at having to start over again. Social media-related applications fall somewhere between these two extremes – some information like email addresses might need to be kept secret (for example, someone's email address can link them personally to potentially damaging information), but not so much that any sensitive accounts can fall into malicious hands as a consequence.

Time expected for testing: The whole security testing ought to be suitable and time-bound. From the all-out time dispensed for testing, it ought to be chosen with respect to how long ought to be given to security testing and appropriately focusing on assignments.

Efforts needed for testing: Testing security takes a lot more effort than some other types of testing, such as functionality or UI.

Knowledge move: Sometimes, additional conceptualizing is expected to review and comprehend apparatuses to perform security tests on unambiguous functionalities.

How is the VAPT service process exactly?

The very first step of vulnerability assessment and penetration testing of mobile applications is to set up the objectives of the exam. The objectives could be to check if the app's security is working, or if it could get hacked; verify and manage all kinds of threats and risks related to an app, etc.

Threat investigation and demonstrating: Threat examination and displaying have four parts:

1.       App architecture

2.       App resources

3.       Third-party interaction

4.       Threat agents

While searching for weaknesses in the mobile application, we consider every one of the functionalities and parts the attacker might actually attack.

There are a number of automated tools you can use to conduct the process of threat analysis and risk modeling for mobile applications - such as Mobile Security Framework, Android debug bridge, iOS Mobile Application Security, etc.

Abuse: Once the weakness evaluation is finished, it is known where might the aggressor at some point focus on his assault. The potential weaknesses are known and the gamble related to them as well. Things might get complicated here. Presently the following stage is to comprehend the effect of the gamble by taking advantage of the weakness. With this, we are really entering into these weaknesses by harming the application seriously. Tools such as QARK (Quick Android Review Kit), ZAP (Zed Attack Proxy), or mitmproxy are free tools available to conduct and analyze these exploits.

When the security testing is complete, it's now time for you to secure the application and ensure it has no weak points. First, you will have to update your app with new protections from would-be intruders and hackers. Then, the team must make sure patches are applied where they belong by upgrading to a newer version of your product's software that includes better defenses against attacks.

Conclusion:

At CyRAACS, we understand that every organization has different VAPT requirements. We are dedicated to providing customized VAPT services in Bangalore that will help proactively mitigate security risks. Our VAPT services include:

• IT Infrastructure (Servers, Routers, Switches, Firewalls, etc)

• Web Application (Application Security Assessment)

• Mobile Application (Application Security Assessment)

• APIs (API Security Testing)