Mobile App Security: How to Protect your App

Mobile app security is a business imperative. Learn how to protect your app from data breaches, financial fraud and reputational damage.

Whether you’re a global enterprise or scaling through app development for startups, the mobile experience defines how users interact with your brand. But with convenience comes risk. As more services migrate to mobile, the threat landscape has evolved; putting sensitive data, financial transactions and user trust on the line.

Whether you’re working with a mobile software development service or managing in-house dedicated software teams, ensuring your app is secure from the ground up must be part of the conversation.

This includes secure coding practices and broader mobile app architecture considerations – from APIs and encryption to compliance and user authentication.

In this blog, we’ll walk you through the major risks mobile apps face today and how organizations can build safer, smarter apps with minimal effort on their part. But first…

What is Mobile App Security?

Mobile app security encompasses everything from secure code practices and encryption to vulnerability testing and compliance.

To put it simply, securing mobile apps is about safeguarding user data, intellectual property and the trust your business has worked hard to earn. After all, a security flaw can turn into a business catastrophe overnight, causing reputational damage, legal consequences and loss of customer trust.

The modern approach to securing any app goes beyond just building it with security at the forefront. Apps these days must be built with a continuous, end-to-end protection strategy across the software development lifecycle in mind. Whether the app is for Android, iOS, or another platform, the need for built-in security is now non-negotiable.

Common Mobile App Security Risks

As mobile adoption has exploded, so too has the attack surface. Let’s explore the most common threats together:

1. Malware attacks

These threats manifest in various ways. For example, they can surface as trojans disguised as legitimate apps, spyware that silently records user activity, or ransomware that locks users out of their data until a payment is made.

Whatever form they take, the impact can be profound: stolen credentials, unauthorized transactions, tracking of user locations and even eavesdropping on voice or text communication. From a business perspective, if users associate your app with these breaches (even if they downloaded a fake), the reputational fallout can be long-lasting.

Proactively defending against malware means integrating app shielding tools, conducting routine security audits and educating users to only download apps from trusted platforms.

2. Unsafe third-party APIs

Modern app development thrives on APIs. However, these integrations represent a double-edged sword. If an API, especially one maintained by a third party, has weak security, it can function as a tunnel into your otherwise secure app.

From a risk management standpoint, businesses should establish a formal third-party risk assessment process. This includes verifying that APIs support strong authentication mechanisms, enforce encryption and are regularly maintained. It’s also important to avoid over-reliance on APIs that request more data than needed.

A secure API integration policy, combined with automated dependency monitoring, can substantially reduce exposure without limiting functionality.

3. Weak encryption

Encryption transforms readable data into an unreadable format, only decipherable with the correct key. When properly implemented, it ensures that even if data is intercepted, it remains unusable to attackers.

Unfortunately, many apps either don’t use encryption or rely on outdated, broken algorithms. Others might implement encryption poorly, for example, hardcoding keys directly into the app code, making them easily extractable by attackers through reverse engineering.

This is particularly dangerous in high-risk sectors like finance, health, or legal services. For instance, if a healthcare app transmits patient records without encryption, it violates HIPAA regulations and puts both the patient and provider at legal and ethical risk.

Thankfully, fixing this is simple but requires discipline: modern encryption standards can secure key storage (such as Android Keystore or Apple’s Secure Enclave), and secure communication protocols (like HTTPS with TLS 1.2+) quickly and easily.

However, while fixing issues here might be easy, remember: regular encryption audits are now essential, not optional.

4. Data leakage

What makes data leakage especially insidious is that it often isn’t the result of a direct attack. Rather, it stems from mistakes in how the app handles, stores, or transmits data. For example, some apps cache sensitive data in temporary files without restriction. Others might store user credentials in plaintext, assuming the device is inherently secure.

Even deleted apps can leave residual data behind. In cases where a device is sold, repurposed, or compromised, bad actors can harvest leftover data.

Preventing this requires strict adherence to secure coding practices such as storing private data only in sandboxed internal storage, avoiding unnecessary caching and ensuring data at rest is encrypted.

5. Insecure authentication

Many apps make the mistake of not enforcing strong passwords, skipping biometric verification, or neglecting multi-factor authentication (MFA). Others store authentication tokens insecurely or fail to rotate session keys after logins.

This is especially critical for apps that handle private communications, store customer payment data, or interact with personal or organizational resources.

Securing mobile apps properly requires a layered authentication strategy that includes:

• Enforcing complex password policies.
• Offering MFA options like SMS OTPs or biometrics.
• Using secure token exchange protocols (e.g., OAuth 2.0).
• Automatically logging users out after inactivity.

All this means authentication is about identity trust, and that trust must be earned and protected every time the app is opened.

6. Rooted or jailbroken devices

Rooted (Android) or jailbroken (iOS) devices allow users to bypass standard security restrictions. While this can provide more control over device functions, it also exposes the operating system to manipulation and disables crucial safeguards.

For mobile apps, this environment is dangerous. For example, on a rooted device, a banking app’s encrypted password storage can be accessed with admin privileges. Apps running in such environments should be able to detect this condition and respond appropriately, either by limiting functionality, displaying a warning, or refusing to run.

Implementing jailbreak/root detection and obfuscation techniques can significantly lower the risk. This protects both the user and the integrity of the app’s data.

7. Overprivileged apps

In pursuit of functionality, some apps request permissions they don’t really need. But while this may seem harmless or even convenient, it opens the door to abuse.

If an attacker compromises the app, they inherit all its permissions. Worse, users often approve these requests without fully understanding the implications.

From a design standpoint, permissions should be minimal and purposeful. Ask: Does this feature really need to access a user’s microphone? If not, don’t request it.

Android and iOS offer permission scopes that can be adjusted at runtime. Developers should also implement permission usage audits during development and QA phases.

8. Unpatched vulnerabilities

Every application, no matter how well-built, will come with bugs. What separates secure apps from vulnerable ones is how quickly those bugs are found and fixed.

Unpatched vulnerabilities are flaws known to developers but not yet addressed in production. They’re often documented in public vulnerability databases, which means attackers know about them too.

These can range from insecure library calls to logic errors that bypass authentication. In many breaches, attackers exploited bugs that had patches available for weeks, or even months.

To reduce exposure:

• Maintain an up-to-date inventory of all third-party libraries and dependencies.
• Apply patches as soon as they’re available.
• Use dependency scanning tools to flag known common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs).

9. Insecure network communication

Apps often rely on client-server communication to function, whether syncing user data, accessing back-end systems, or authenticating sessions. If that communication is not encrypted, it can be intercepted, modified, or hijacked.

Common mistakes include using HTTP instead of HTTPS, misconfiguring SSL certificates, or failing to validate certificates at all.

To secure communication:

• Use TLS (1.2 or higher) for all data transfers.
• Enforce certificate pinning where possible.
• Validate server identity to prevent spoofing.

10. Unsecured third-party components

Third-party libraries and SDKs are essential for speed and functionality, but they’re also major sources of risk. These packages are often developed outside of your security purview and may contain flaws, spyware, or backdoors.

Therefore, organizations must implement a vetting process for all external code that includes:

• Preferring well-maintained, widely adopted open-source libraries.
• Checking recent updates and patch history.
• Monitoring vulnerability databases for security advisories.
• Removing unused dependencies to reduce the attack surface.

Best Practices for Securing Your Mobile App

To effectively mitigate the risks outlined above, organizations should follow a structured and layered approach to securing their mobile apps. Here are seven practical steps every business should consider:
1. Strengthen user authentication: Use two-factor authentication (2FA), biometric login options and enforce strong password policies, especially for apps that handle personal or financial data. Choose an authentication strategy based on data sensitivity and reputational risk.

2. Secure the software supply chain: Only incorporate libraries and SDKs that are actively maintained and sourced from reputable providers. Open-source is not inherently unsafe, but verify before you begin trusting.

3. Encrypt all sensitive data: Data encryption should be applied both in transit and at rest. Protocols like TLS should be used for communication between app and server. Strong encryption algorithms like AES are essential, and keys should be securely managed.

4. Implement secure session management: Set session timeouts based on the level of data sensitivity. For example, an e-commerce app may allow longer sessions than a mobile banking app. Also, always terminate active sessions when another user logs in.

5. Apply least privilege principles: Don’t over-permission your app. Only request access to features and data that are necessary. Unused permissions can quickly become liabilities.

6. Conduct continuous security testing: Shift from occasional security audits to ongoing testing. Automated tools can continuously scan for known vulnerabilities. Include security in your CI/CD pipeline.

7. Deploy app shielding: Technologies like runtime application self-protection (RASP) can monitor app behavior in real-time and detect tampering or injection attacks. This is a strong last line of defense, especially post-deployment.

These practices are not silver bullets, but together they form a powerful defense-in-depth strategy that protects your app, and your users.

Mobile App Security Tools and Solutions

So now you know the challenges and the best practices but where do you start? Thankfully, there’s a growing ecosystem of security tools that help businesses identify vulnerabilities and defend against threats such as:

• Static and dynamic analysis Tools: Static application security testing (SAST) tools analyze code before it’s run, helping identify common mistakes like insecure data handling or hardcoded credentials. Dynamic application security testing (DAST) tools simulate attacks on running applications.
• Mobile application management (MAM): MAM tools give IT teams control over app usage within enterprise environments, enforcing encryption, managing access and enabling remote wipe functionality if a device is lost or stolen.
• Encryption and key management tools: These services help businesses implement robust encryption while safely storing, rotating and revoking keys as needed.
• App wrapping and RASP: App wrapping tools add security layers without modifying source code, often used in enterprise app distribution. RASP embeds security directly into the app and continuously monitors threats during runtime.
• Vulnerability scanners and penetration testing: Routine scanning tools and manual pen tests are crucial for spotting new and emerging risks. They simulate real-world attacks to test how your app holds up. While choosing tools, it’s essential to align them with your app architecture, threat model and compliance requirements.

Compliance and Regulatory Considerations

Security is not just about protection, it’s about compliance. Failing to meet regulatory standards can result in lawsuits, fines, or bans from app stores.

Here are the key compliance areas to focus on:

• Data privacy regulations: Depending on your market, this may adhering to GDPR requirements (EU), CCPA expectations (California), or LGPD guidelines (Brazil). All require clear user consent for data collection, secure storage and breach notification procedures.
• Platform guidelines: Both Apple and Google enforce their own security guidelines. Apps that don’t follow these may be removed from the App Store or Google Play.
• Mobile device management (MDM) policies: For enterprise apps, MDM tools must align with internal IT policies and often require security certifications or audits.
• Encryption and data residency laws: Finally, some countries require data to be encrypted in specific ways or stored only within national borders. Always check the data residency laws where your app operates. Embedding compliance into the development process prevents retroactive fixes and builds user trust from the start.

Why Mobile App Security Must be a Priority

Mobile apps are no longer fringe channels; they are core business assets. They hold sensitive user data, conduct financial transactions and often serve as a company’s primary interface with customers.

Yet many businesses still underestimate the need for properly secured mobile apps, treating them as an afterthought instead of a core design principle. This mindset needs to change. By following the best practices outlined above and investing in the right tools and talent, organizations can ensure their mobile apps are not just functional, but resilient.

Ready to get started? Let our team guide you in building out app security capabilities that set your organization up for success, now and in the future. Connect with us to begin your journey to an ideal application today!

FAQs

What are the best practices for mobile app security?

Use strong authentication, encrypt data in transit and at rest, minimize app permissions, conduct continuous security testing and patch vulnerabilities promptly.

How do mobile app security measures protect user data?

They prevent unauthorized access, secure data during transmission and protect sensitive information from being exposed through malware, insecure storage, or poor coding practices.

What are the common security risks in mobile app development?

Key risks include weak authentication, data leakage, unsafe third-party APIs, malware, insecure network communication and unpatched vulnerabilities.

How can developers prevent mobile app vulnerabilities?

By following secure coding standards, integrating regular testing (including static and dynamic analysis), using vetted third-party libraries and applying the principle of least privilege.

What role does encryption play in mobile app security?

Encryption ensures that even if data is intercepted or accessed, it remains unreadable without the decryption key, making it a fundamental layer of protection for sensitive information.