FAQs on Testing of Android and iOS vulnerabilities


Below are a few quick questions that come to mind, pertaining to the mobile app's security and testing process.

Why Valency Networks is your best Mobile VAPT services company?

We are best known for our technical expertise in finding vulnerabilities in mobile Apps. We do not just scan your app for security loopholes but dig deep into the static and dynamic testing along with data-at-rest and data-in-transit tests to ensure your app is secure from all sides. We ensure our services are customer satisfying and provide accurate results along with solutions and proof of concept.

What is mobile VAPT?

Mobile application VAPT essentially identifies the exploitable vulnerabilities in code, system, application, databases, and APIs before hackers can discover and exploit them. Using malicious apps can be potentially risky and untested apps may contain bugs that expose your organization's data.

How does mobile app security work?

Mobile app security is the practice of safeguarding high-value mobile applications and your digital identity from fraudulent attacks in all their forms. This includes tampering, reverse engineering, malware, key loggers, and other forms of manipulation or interference.

How can we make mobile apps more secure?

Following things can be done to ensure security:

  • Source Code Encryption
  • Penetration Tests
  • Secure the data-in-transit
  • File-level & Database Encryption
  • Use the latest cryptography techniques
  • High-level Authentication
  • Secure the backend
  • Minimize storage of sensitive data

How do apps store data?

Mobile apps use databases for much the same reasons desktop and web applications do. Databases allow you to store data in a secure place so you can access it later. However, apps cannot directly use external databases to store this data.

What is automated app testing?

The automated testing method allows you to run regression tests quickly. Repetitive and drawn-out tasks lend themselves well to automated testing. When you're testing the speed and performance of a mobile app against thousands of concurrent users, automation is helpful.

How do you manually test mobile app security?

There are some vulnerabilities, which can be identified by manual scan only. Some attacks such as SQL Injection, Cross-site scripting (XSS), Authentication Bypass, etc. can be accurate only when done manually. We perform Manual testing is performed on the OWASP Mobile Security Top 10 issues.

  • M1: Improper Platform Usage
  • M2: Insecure Data Storage
  • M3: Insecure Communication
  • M4: Insecure Authentication
  • M5: Insufficient Cryptography
  • M6: Insecure Authorization
  • M7: Client Code Quality
  • M8: Code Tampering
  • M9: Reverse Engineering
  • M10: Extraneous Functionality

We also follow our expert's checklist on Mobile applications security for manual testing. Manual testing helps in digging deep into the application and its functionalities to find security vulnerabilities.

Find more about this:
How to test android app security?
Mobile App Testing

Is CSRF Attack possible in mobile applications?

No. CSRF (Cross-Site Request Forgery) is possible when there is any authentication mechanism in place like cookies which are mostly used on web applications. Mobile applications do not use cookies or other authentication mechanism as they don't have web browser storing cookies for each site you visit. Hence, CSRF is not possible on mobile applications.

To read more on CSRF: CSRF (Cross Site Request Forging) Vulnerability

What are the possible threats to mobile applications?

Different types of mobile security threats are:

  • Social engineering
  • Data Leakage via malicious apps
  • Unsecured public WIFI
  • End-to-end encryption gaps
  • Spyware
  • Poor password habits

How do you authenticate a mobile app?

The authentication flow is as follows:

  • The app sends a request with the user's credentials to the backend server.
  • The server verifies the credentials If the credentials are valid, the server creates a new session along with a random session ID.
  • The server sends to the client a response that includes the session ID.

Why mobile application security is important?

Security testing validates an app's resistance to attacks from malicious users. It also ensures developers apply security practices when programming. To apply adequate security testing for mobile applications, it's necessary to have a solid strategy as a base.

How to mitigate mobile security threats?

By following these six steps:

  • Keep software updated
  • Choose mobile security
  • Install a firewall
  • Always use a passcode on your phone
  • Download apps from official app stores
  • Always read the end-user agreement

Is it safe for a mobile app to collect email and password strings from a user?

Yes, it is safe, as long as the application uses HTTPS protocol during transmission. However, do not store sensitive information on the device. If it is required for business, then ensure the data being stored is in encrypted format.

What is security in mobile application development?

Mobile app security is a measure to secure applications from external threats like malware and other digital frauds that risk critical personal and financial information from hackers. Mobile app security has become equally important in today's world

What is mobile applications security testing (MAST)?

Security is one of the prominent concerns of almost every mobile app owner in the present times. Reportedly, 80 percent of users are more likely to uninstall an app due to security issues. Therefore, it is highly essential to focus on security testing for mobile apps. Certain applications such as travel apps require the personal information of users for different transactions. If your app demands something similar, then it is essential that you provide the guarantee of confidentiality, integrity, and authenticity of the app. So, the Security testing companies or QA testing teams should also focus on data security and app behavior in the case of different device permission schemes.

What bottlenecks do performance tests address and what is the type of this test?

Performance test addresses the performance bottlenecks before making an application go live. Bottlenecks are the processes within the overall functions of systems that slow down or stall the overall performance. The common types of performance tests include load testing, volume testing, soak testing, spike testing, and stress testing. A/B testing is the process of running a controlled experiment comparing one or more variations of an iOS app against the original, with the goal of improving a specific metric, such as taps, engagement or in-app purchases. The experiment is delivered to a selected percentage of the application's install base.

What is functional testing in a mobile application?

The Functional Testing of Mobile Application is a process of testing functionalities of mobile applications like user interactions as well as testing the transactions that users might perform.

What are the commonly exposed mobile application vulnerabilities?

The OWASP top 10 for mobile apps are:

  • Improper platform usage
  • Insecure data storage
  • Insecure communication
  • Insecure authentication
  • Insufficient cryptography
  • Insecure authorization
  • Client code quality
  • Code tampering
  • Reverse engineering
  • Extraneous functionality

What is the mobile security framework?

Mobile security framework (MobSF) is an automated, all-in-one mobile application pen-testing, malware analysis and security assessment framework capable of performing static and dynamic analysis.

Is XSS possible in mobile applications?

In the context of native apps, XSS risks are far less prevalent for the simple reason these kinds of applications do not rely on a web browser. However, apps using WebView components, such as WKWebView or the deprecated UIWebView on iOS and WebView on Android, are potentially vulnerable to such attacks.

What is the difference between vulnerability scanner and a penetration test?

Vulnerability scans look for known vulnerabilities in your systems and report potential exposures. Penetration tests are intended to exploit weaknesses in the architecture of your IT network and determine the degree to which a malicious attacker can gain unauthorized access to your assets.

What is used to identify security vulnerabilities in an application?

They detect conditions that indicate a security vulnerability in an application in its running state. DAST (Dynamic Application Security Testing) tools run on operating code to detect issues with interfaces, requests, responses, scripting (i.e., JavaScript), data injection, sessions, authentication, and more.

How many types of black box testing are there?

Black Box Testing is a software testing method in which the functionalities of software applications are tested without having knowledge of internal code structure, implementation details and internal paths. Black Box Testing mainly focuses on input and output of software applications and it is entirely based on software requirements and specifications.

Why is grey box tested recommended for mobile applications?

For a mobile API testing, it is generally recommended to perform grey box testing to enable the pentesters to handle the API correctly and to save time in identifying the most important security flaws. For tests aimed at ensuring the highest level of security, white box testing enables a deeper investigation, which requires providing the pen-testers with access to the mobile application's source code and server infrastructure.

Can you give examples of server-side vulnerabilities?

Some of the examples would be:

  • Outdated software
  • Configuration errors
  • Open insecure services
  • Bypass of security elements

What are injection attacks?

By following these six steps:

  • Injection attacks refer to a broad class of attack vectors. In an injection attack, an attacker supplies untrusted input to a program. This input gets processed by an interpreter as part of a command or query. In turn, this alters the execution of that program.
  • Injections are amongst the oldest and most dangerous attacks aimed at web applications. They can lead to data theft, data loss, loss of data integrity, denial of service, as well as full system compromise. The primary reason for injection vulnerabilities is usually insufficient user input validation and sanitization.

How running anti-virus may not be good enough

Viruses in androids are very common and we get to see a new variation every day therefore even if you have an antivirus software it can hardly detect any viruses.

Some antivirus software's are just advertising platforms as they do little to nothing.

Hackers very often target antivirus, the more popular the antivirus the more chances of being hacked.

Security problems in mobile apps:

  • Apps input data from various sources and it's easy to attach some malicious files.
  • Apps lack proper encryption system which makes it easier for the hacker to access the data.
  • While creating apps some developers copy paste code lines directly from internet which are often written by hackers.

How virus gets into your phone

There are many ways to insert virus in your phone. Some of the ways include:

  • Downloading unauthorized APK files.
  • Opening malicious files or emails on your phone.
  • Opening malicious text messages.
  • Downloading files from untrusted websites.
  • Connecting phone to public WIFI's.

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