Staying competitive in today’s market can be a lot harder than most business owners realize. Failing to embrace the power of mobile technology can lead to your competition blowing right past you. This is why investing in the development of a mobile app is such a good idea.
While most business owners realize the importance of software and hardware monitor tools for their app, many of them seem to look right over the subject of app security. Did you realize that over 35 percent of the data sent on mobile devices is unencrypted? This means that a tech-savvy hacker could very well intercept this data and use it for nefarious purposes.
Instead of leaving your app and its users at risk, you need to find ways to make your program more secure. The following are just a few of the things you can do to increase your app’s security.
1. Start By Securing Your App’s Code
The first step in the app development process is writing the code. Before this process begins, you will need to sit down with your developer and make a plan of action. Rather than viewing app security as an afterthought, you need to make it a priority.
Most business owners fail to realize how many vulnerabilities exist in their app’s code. The best way to reduce these vulnerabilities is by encrypting all of the data in the code. You need to also test your code throughout the development process to ensure there are no issues that need to be addressed.
The more security your app code has, the easier it will be for users on multiple devices to use your program without the fear of data hacks.
2. Secure Network Connections on the Back End
Your app will have to access a number of servers and cloud-servers along the journey to a consumer. Making sure these servers have adequate security measures on them is essential. Before choosing a host for your app, you need to do a great deal of research.
Ideally, you want to choose a host that provides containerization for your app. This process allows for the creation of encrypted containers that are designed to hold documents and data. If you are unsure about how secure your hosting is, allowing a network security specialist to run a penetration test is vital.
With the results of this test, you can easily identify potential security risks and figure out how to fix them.
3. Work on Developing and Implementing a Mobile Encryption Policy
Did you realize that the more data your app stores locally, the more vulnerable it is to security breaches? Having a “leaky” app can lead to your users’ data being exposed. The best way to avoid this is by implementing the use of file-level encryption.
This will allow you to protect data on a file by file basis. You can also use a hardware monitor tool to ensure that everything is safeguarded on a regular basis.
If at all possible, you should develop an app that is unable to store highly sensitive information. Allowing users to store this information on your app will usually lead to lots of problems in the future.
4. Ensure You Have a Solid API Security Strategy Implemented
The development of mobile apps is something that is greatly dependent on APIs. As a result, much of securing your mobile app deals directly with securing the API.
The API is responsible for flowing data between the cloud, applications, and a wide array of users, all who have to be authorized and verified to actually assess the data in questions. As the main conduit for content, data, and functionality, making sure that the API is secured is a crucial part of this process.
While using a hardware monitor can be beneficial with this, to see what is going on, it’s not the only factor to keep in mind. You need to ensure that the three primary security measures that make up any properly built API security stack are in place – identify, authenticate, and authorize.
5. Make Sure App Users are Properly Protecting Their Devices
No efforts of security, not even a hardware monitoring tool are going to be effective if the end user of your app isn’t safeguarding their own devices. Make sure people who have access to your app don’t use a rooted or jailbroken device. These have the built-in security measures removed, leaving it much more vulnerable.
Also, make sure that other apps are only downloaded from a secure source – like an authorized app store.
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Don’t Take Chances
By prioritizing the security of your app, you can avoid data hacks and customer complaints. With the assistance of an experienced app developer, a hardware monitor tool, and network security expert, making an app with iron-clad security will be much easier.
Do let me know what you think about these app security tips via comments. And share this post with your friends on social media if you liked it.
