B2B Mobile App Security Tips: Best Practices for Protection

Mobile apps have taken on a crucial role in generating revenue for businesses. We can expect this trend to continue with the proliferation of mobile devices worldwide. However, this also comes with a rise in cyber threats that businesses must defend against.

Companies must safeguard their mobile apps to continue reaping the benefits. A mobile app development agency in Chicago would tell you to follow these practices:

• Using strong authentication
• Implementing secure data transmission protocols
• Validating input and output data
• Protecting local data
• Following secure coding practices
• Controlling app access
• Regularly updating and patching

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Using Strong Authentication

Authentication is your mobile app’s first line of defense against unauthorized access. It verifies a user’s identity before granting access to the app or data. You want your app to use strong authentication methods to secure user credentials and data.

The two commonly used authentication methods are:

1. Two-factor authentication (2FA): This method requires the user to provide two types of information to verify their identity. This can be a password or a one-time sent via SMS or e-mail. The 2FA method can prevent attackers from gaining access to user accounts, even if they have stolen a password.

2. Biometric authentication: Fingerprint and face recognition fall under biometric authentication. This provides an extra layer of security, ensuring that only authorized users can access the app and its data.

These two authentication methods are common features of the best mobile apps. They ensure user information protection and enhance your app's overall security.

Implementing Secure Data Transmission Protocols

Data is transmitted between the app and a server when users interact with your mobile app. You must use secure communication protocols to safeguard this data from interception and unauthorized access.

For mobile apps, it is best practice to use the HTTPS protocol to encrypt the data transmitted between the app and server, ensuring secure communication. This protocol also verifies the authenticity of the server, preventing man-in-the-middle attacks.

HTTPS protects sensitive information and ensures your app only communicates with trusted servers. It avoids any unsecured connections that could potentially expose user data to attackers.

Validating Input and Output Data

Mobile apps rely heavily on user input to function. However, attackers can also exploit user input to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data. In preventing such attacks, it is crucial to validate input data because it ensures that only expected and valid data is accepted. This helps prevent attacks such as SQL injection and cross-site scripting.

In addition, you must also validate the output data to ensure that it is safe to display to the user. This prevents attackers from manipulating data output and potentially gaining unauthorized access to user data. 

Developers can apply input validation techniques, such as data type and range checking, to ensure that the user information entered meets the expected criteria. You can validate output by encoding data to prevent it from being interpreted as code.

Protecting Locally Stored Data

Mobile apps often store sensitive user data on the device. Data such as login credentials, financial information, and personal data are at risk of unauthorized access if not adequately protected. 

To prevent such attacks, developers should use encryption to protect sensitive data stored locally on the device. Encryption means converting plain text into cipher text to prevent unauthorized data access. When needed, the data can be decrypted into its original plain-text form.

Additionally, developers should implement secure storage techniques. These include using the device's secure keychain or storing data in a private folder inaccessible to other apps. These precautions can help safeguard sensitive user data and protect against unauthorized access.

Following Secure Coding Practices

In mobile app security, it is essential to follow secure coding practices. These help prevent vulnerabilities and weaknesses that attackers can exploit. 

Examples of secure coding practices include:

• Creating strong and unique passwords for all accounts
• Implementing proper error handling to prevent sensitive data leaks
• Using appropriate data structures to prevent buffer overflow attacks

Developers should also adhere to industry-standard coding guidelines. For instance, the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) Mobile Top 10 identifies the top security risks for mobile apps. It also provides recommendations for mitigating them. 

Furthermore, developers can use automated tools and services to identify and fix security weaknesses during development. These tools can detect coding errors and vulnerabilities, while services can test the app's security against known attack vectors. 

Controlling App Access

Access control measures must be in place to ensure the safety and security of mobile apps.  Doing so restricts access to sensitive data and functions to authorized users only. 

Access control measures can include: 

• Role-based access control (RBAC) allows access based on a user's role or permissions.
• Attribute-based access control (ABAC) adds attributes such as location or time to control access.

You must implement access control measures throughout the app. This includes areas such as login screens, data storage, and functions that require elevated privileges. Developers must also manage user accounts correctly, with strong password policies and account lockout mechanisms to prevent brute force attacks.

Keeping the App Up-To-Date

Releasing regular updates and patches optimizes mobile app performance and maintains security. Your mobile app needs security patches and bug fixes to prevent the exploitation of known vulnerabilities.

Developers should prompt users to install updates regularly and make them available as soon as possible. In addition, developers should educate users on the importance of keeping the app up-to-date. They must emphasize the potential security risks of using outdated software.

Moreover, developers should consider implementing an automated update process that notifies users of new updates. The process must also automatically install the update whenever possible. This ensures that users always have the latest version of the app. As a result, the risk of security breaches caused by outdated software is minimized.

Summing Up

Mobile app security can be complex, and it is not something you can push to the sidelines. Given mobile apps' profitability, investing in their security is in your company’s best interest. 

If you want expert help implementing the best mobile app security practices, contact Digital Authority Partners (DAP) today.