Mobile applications are a regular part of today’s world. User behavior and preference is moving increasingly towards a world of mobile computing. As per statistics, over 5 billion people worldwide are estimated to own at least one mobile device. Increasingly, mobile applications are the default way that users interact with mobile devices. Google has more than 2.5 billion Android application. Apple is in a similar race. Hence, mobile application security is the need of the hour!
Applications bring rich and native functionality to a mobile device in a way that exceeds what is generally possible with a web application. The increased use of mobile applications has resulted in increased levels of personal data and sensitive functionality being handled by them. Hence it is very important to understand how mobile applications store and process sensitive data?
Mobile application security testing gives assurance that the expected security protections exist and are effective.
Benefits of Mobile Application Penetration Testing
Either your organization develops a mobile application, or it is a business consumer of it. There is no denying the fact that mobile applications are one of the greatest sources of exploitation today. Mobile apps are prone to flaws, which are very similar to web applications and desktop applications.
By conducting penetration tests, the company can gain knowledge of vulnerabilities in the mobile application, bottlenecks, loopholes, and attack vectors before delivering an app to the user. It is important for both developers and consumers of mobile applications, that appropriate levels of security exist. As a result, the company can change the design, code, and architecture before release. The cost of fixing the issue at this stage is less than addressing later when a breach or a flaw gets discovered. The price at post-rollout step joins not only financial matters but also PR, legal, and more.
Each level can reap the benefits from a mobile application penetration test:
1) Developers gain assurance that their product is safe and secure for their customers.
2) Organizations gain assurance that a given mobile application is safe to introduce to their enterprise environment.
3) Users feel safer with the knowledge that a mobile security test has taken place, which in turn allows them to confidently use the application.
Mobile application OWASP TOP 10 vulnerabilities:
The well-known OWASP Foundation lists 10 commonly found areas of weakness in mobile applications. These, and more, are all examined during a mobile application penetration test. Experts who know what attackers do, will use those same techniques against the mobile application.
