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Security Testing For Mobile Applications

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Introduction Security Testing ensures, that system and applications in an organization, are free from any loopholes that may cause a big loss. Security testing of any system is about finding all possible loopholes and weaknesses of the system which might result into loss of information at the hands of the employees or outsiders of the Organization. The goal of security testing is to identify the threats in the system and measure its potential vulnerabilities. It also helps in detecting all possible security risks in the system and help developers in fixing these breakthroughs coding. Mobile applications can have complicated threat models, so security testing needs to examine a number of different aspects of these systems. There are three major types of security testing tools to look into for mobile app security testing: 1. Static 2. Dynamic 3. Forensic  Static Static testing tools look at the application while at rest either the source code or    the application binary. These can be good for identifying certain types of vulnerabilities in how the code will run on the device, usually associated with data flow and buffer handling.

  • Some commercial static security analysis tools and services have the capability to test mobile application code. It is important to work with the vendor to get a clear understanding of exactly what types of vulnerabilities can and cannot be identified, because most security static analysis tools were originally optimized for testing Web-based applications.
  • Freely available tools for static analysis of mobile applications include theClang Static Analyzer, which is a static analysis tool for C, C++ and Objective-C programs.
  • You can use the Objective C support to test for certain quality and security errors in iOS-based applications, and they can be run both from the command line and from inside Apple's XCode development environment. In addition, the XCode-provided "otool" command can be used to extract information from iOS application binaries that can be used in support of security analysis.
  • In Android environments, tools exist that extract both DEX assembly code as well as recover Java source code from Android applications.
  • Examples of these tools include DeDexer, which generates DEX assembly code from an Android DEX application binary, and dex2jar, which converts DEX application binaries to standard Java JAR files.
  • Standard Java analysis tools such asFindBugs can then be used to analyze these JARs. In addition, the Java bytecode can be converted back into Java source code with Java decompilers such as JD-GUI. This sets the stage for manual security analysis of an Android app.
Dynamic Dynamic testing tools allow security analysts to observe the behavior of running systems in order to identify potential issues.
  • The most common dynamic analysis tools used in mobile app security testing are proxies that allow security analysts to observe -- and potentially change -- communications between mobile application clients and supporting Web services. One example of such a proxy tool is the OWASP Zed Attack Proxy.
  • With proxy tools, security analysts can reverse engineer communication protocols and craft potentially malicious messages that would never be sent by legitimate mobile clients.
  • This allows the messages to attack the server-side resources that are a critical component of any nontrivial mobile application system.
Forensic Forensic tools allow security analysts to examine artifacts that are left behind by an application after it has been run.
  • Common things analysts might look for include hard-coded passwords or other credentials stored in configuration files, sensitive data stored in application databases and unexpected data stored in Web browser component caches.
  • Analysts can also use forensic tools to look at how components of mobile applications are stored on the device to determine if available operating system access control facilities have been properly used.
  • Exploring mobile device file systems can be done using tools such as theAndroid Debug Bridge that comes with the Android Development Kit or third-party tools like the iPad File Explorer, which, despite its name, should work for all iOS devices and not just iPads.
  • The SQLite database engine is available natively on both iOS and Android systems and is a common way for app developers to store data in a familiar relational database-like environment. Utilities such as the SQLite Database Browser can be used to examine SQLite database files once they have been recovered from a target system.
Mobile Application Security Testing Advantages:
  • Provides a complete picture of the risks in your mobile applications and helps you mitigate them through remediation guidance.
  • Finds the risks related to mobile applications regardless of where those risks exist: client-side code, server-side code, third-party libraries, or underlying mobile platforms.
  • Finds the security vulnerabilities that endanger your users or their data being managed by your application as well as risky or unintended behaviors.
  • Delivers assessments and mitigation advice tailored to the various types of mobile applications including internal and external applications as well as applications developed using native APIs and cross-platform development frameworks.
  • Supports all major smart phone platforms (including iOS, Android, Blackberry and Windows) and focuses on mobile-specific risks.
Conclusion At present, the QA professionals have option to choose from several static, dynamic and forensic security testing tools. Many testers even prefer combining different security testing tools to protect the mobile app from evolving security attacks. However, it is always important for the testers to pick security testing tools according to the nature and requirements of each mobile app.For more information about mobile app security testing, please drop an Email to:info@oditeksolutions.com

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Security Testing

In the era of internet, information security is one of the prime concerns for all digital applications. Business websites and applications are major interface points for most businesses in the online world. Security Testing is the process to find all potential loopholes and weaknesses in...

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We had a tough deadline to launch our .Net based application that processes a lot of data, and got very frustrated with our development agency we hired. Fortunately we got Oditek, and they took over seamlessly the product development, launched the app & continued feature development. Just awesome!

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They were very attentive to our needs as clients and went out of the way to make sure our projects were taken care of. They were always able to get projects done in the specifications we requested. They are passionate about getting things done; I would definitely recommend them to lead any IT projects.

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Sr VP Technology- 1031 Crowd Funding

I worked with OdiTek on few high profile banking application projects. They did a fantastic job with web applications & manual testing on the VAS apps for two leading banks of UK that included rigorous UAT phases. I recommend them for any application development where security matters.

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CTO- Smarta, UK

OdiTek is our extended team who works on our key software projects. They are dependable, good in collaboration and technically very much to the level what we expect a global team should be. They had transformed our web applications, CRM and added mobility to existing business platforms here.

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I am a fan of Team OdiTek since 2014 and have worked on many product development projects together. Specially worth mentioning their deliveries on VAS Banking web application development & manual testing services for Smarta, UK. They are highly skilled & a professional team to work with.

Tom Bowden

Digital Propositions - HSBC, London

OdiTek has been working on our Integrated Web-scale Mobile Platform i.e. Optimal Health since 2014. They are very professional and takes care of the requirements meticulously. They are technically very sound and sincere in ensuring quality & performance. Wonderful working with them!

Catherine Lim

COO- Medilink Global Sdn Bdh

You can trust the team, with minimum supervision you get the work done. They are honest, professional & committed to schedule & quality. I had been successfully running 3 business applications designed, developed and maintained by Oditek developers. It’s been a pleasure working with them.

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OdiTek has been working in custom software development, including services for test automation. Many of them have worked with me in 2009-10 when I was R&D Manager in NetHawk India. They have great enthusiasm & a passion to excel in bringing customer success. Their work has been very impressive.

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It's amazing to see these guys are turning their experience into a global delivery excellence at OdiTek. I am sure their past large scale product development experience will be handy to product companies. I would always recommend Oditek for software development, especially performance-driven solutions.

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Opti Automation Oyj

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