Application Security for the Android Platform


Book Description

With the Android platform fast becoming a target of malicious hackers, application security is crucial. This concise book provides the knowledge you need to design and implement robust, rugged, and secure apps for any Android device. You’ll learn how to identify and manage the risks inherent in your design, and work to minimize a hacker’s opportunity to compromise your app and steal user data. How is the Android platform structured to handle security? What services and tools are available to help you protect data? Up until now, no single resource has provided this vital information. With this guide, you’ll learn how to address real threats to your app, whether or not you have previous experience with security issues. Examine Android’s architecture and security model, and how it isolates the filesystem and database Learn how to use Android permissions and restricted system APIs Explore Android component types, and learn how to secure communications in a multi-tier app Use cryptographic tools to protect data stored on an Android device Secure the data transmitted from the device to other parties, including the servers that interact with your app




Mobile Platform Security


Book Description

Recently, mobile security has garnered considerable interest in both the research community and industry due to the popularity of smartphones. The current smartphone platforms are open systems that allow application development, also for malicious parties. To protect the mobile device, its user, and other mobile ecosystem stakeholders such as network operators, application execution is controlled by a platform security architecture. This book explores how such mobile platform security architectures work. We present a generic model for mobile platform security architectures: the model illustrates commonly used security mechanisms and techniques in mobile devices and allows a systematic comparison of different platforms. We analyze several mobile platforms using the model. In addition, this book explains hardware-security mechanisms typically present in a mobile device. We also discuss enterprise security extensions for mobile platforms and survey recent research in the area of mobile platform security. The objective of this book is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current status of mobile platform security for students, researchers, and practitioners. Table of Contents: Preface / Introduction / Platform Security Model / Mobile Platforms / Platform Comparison / Mobile Hardware Security / Enterprise Security Extensions / Platform Security Research / Conclusions / Bibliography / Authors' Biographies




Hacking Exposed Mobile


Book Description

Proven security tactics for today's mobile apps, devices, and networks "A great overview of the new threats created by mobile devices. ...The authors have heaps of experience in the topics and bring that to every chapter." -- Slashdot Hacking Exposed Mobile continues in the great tradition of the Hacking Exposed series, arming business leaders and technology practitioners with an in-depth understanding of the latest attacks and countermeasures--so they can leverage the power of mobile platforms while ensuring that security risks are contained." -- Jamil Farshchi, Senior Business Leader of Strategic Planning and Initiatives, VISA Identify and evade key threats across the expanding mobile risk landscape. Hacking Exposed Mobile: Security Secrets & Solutions covers the wide range of attacks to your mobile deployment alongside ready-to-use countermeasures. Find out how attackers compromise networks and devices, attack mobile services, and subvert mobile apps. Learn how to encrypt mobile data, fortify mobile platforms, and eradicate malware. This cutting-edge guide reveals secure mobile development guidelines, how to leverage mobile OS features and MDM to isolate apps and data, and the techniques the pros use to secure mobile payment systems. Tour the mobile risk ecosystem with expert guides to both attack and defense Learn how cellular network attacks compromise devices over-the-air See the latest Android and iOS attacks in action, and learn how to stop them Delve into mobile malware at the code level to understand how to write resilient apps Defend against server-side mobile attacks, including SQL and XML injection Discover mobile web attacks, including abuse of custom URI schemes and JavaScript bridges Develop stronger mobile authentication routines using OAuth and SAML Get comprehensive mobile app development security guidance covering everything from threat modeling to iOS- and Android-specific tips Get started quickly using our mobile pen testing and consumer security checklists




Mobile Platform Security


Book Description

Recently, mobile security has garnered considerable interest in both the research community and industry due to the popularity of smartphones. The current smartphone platforms are open systems that allow application development, also for malicious parties. To protect the mobile device, its user, and other mobile ecosystem stakeholders such as network operators, application execution is controlled by a platform security architecture. This book explores how such mobile platform security architectures work. We present a generic model for mobile platform security architectures: the model illustrates commonly used security mechanisms and techniques in mobile devices and allows a systematic comparison of different platforms. We analyze several mobile platforms using the model. In addition, this book explains hardware-security mechanisms typically present in a mobile device. We also discuss enterprise security extensions for mobile platforms and survey recent research in the area of mobile platform security. The objective of this book is to provide a comprehensive overview of the current status of mobile platform security for students, researchers, and practitioners.




Research Anthology on Securing Mobile Technologies and Applications


Book Description

Mobile technologies have become a staple in society for their accessibility and diverse range of applications that are continually growing and advancing. Users are increasingly using these devices for activities beyond simple communication including gaming and e-commerce and to access confidential information including banking accounts and medical records. While mobile devices are being so widely used and accepted in daily life, and subsequently housing more and more personal data, it is evident that the security of these devices is paramount. As mobile applications now create easy access to personal information, they can incorporate location tracking services, and data collection can happen discreetly behind the scenes. Hence, there needs to be more security and privacy measures enacted to ensure that mobile technologies can be used safely. Advancements in trust and privacy, defensive strategies, and steps for securing the device are important foci as mobile technologies are highly popular and rapidly developing. The Research Anthology on Securing Mobile Technologies and Applications discusses the strategies, methods, and technologies being employed for security amongst mobile devices and applications. This comprehensive book explores the security support that needs to be required on mobile devices to avoid application damage, hacking, security breaches and attacks, or unauthorized accesses to personal data. The chapters cover the latest technologies that are being used such as cryptography, verification systems, security policies and contracts, and general network security procedures along with a look into cybercrime and forensics. This book is essential for software engineers, app developers, computer scientists, security and IT professionals, practitioners, stakeholders, researchers, academicians, and students interested in how mobile technologies and applications are implementing security protocols and tactics amongst devices.




Mobile Security and Privacy


Book Description

Mobile Security and Privacy: Advances, Challenges and Future Research Directions provides the first truly holistic view of leading edge mobile security research from Dr. Man Ho Au and Dr. Raymond Choo—leading researchers in mobile security. Mobile devices and apps have become part of everyday life in both developed and developing countries. As with most evolving technologies, mobile devices and mobile apps can be used for criminal exploitation. Along with the increased use of mobile devices and apps to access and store sensitive, personally identifiable information (PII) has come an increasing need for the community to have a better understanding of the associated security and privacy risks. Drawing upon the expertise of world-renowned researchers and experts, this volume comprehensively discusses a range of mobile security and privacy topics from research, applied, and international perspectives, while aligning technical security implementations with the most recent developments in government, legal, and international environments. The book does not focus on vendor-specific solutions, instead providing a complete presentation of forward-looking research in all areas of mobile security. The book will enable practitioners to learn about upcoming trends, scientists to share new directions in research, and government and industry decision-makers to prepare for major strategic decisions regarding implementation of mobile technology security and privacy. In addition to the state-of-the-art research advances, this book also discusses prospective future research topics and open challenges. - Presents the most current and leading edge research on mobile security and privacy, featuring a panel of top experts in the field - Provides a strategic and international overview of the security issues surrounding mobile technologies - Covers key technical topics and provides readers with a complete understanding of the most current research findings along with future research directions and challenges - Enables practitioners to learn about upcoming trends, scientists to share new directions in research, and government and industry decision-makers to prepare for major strategic decisions regarding the implementation of mobile technology security and privacy initiatives




Mobile Device Security


Book Description

As each generation of portable electronic devices and storage media becomes smaller, higher in capacity, and easier to transport, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to protect the data on these devices while still enabling their productive use in the workplace. Explaining how mobile devices can create backdoor security threats, Mobile Device Security: A Comprehensive Guide to Securing Your Information in a Moving World specifies immediate actions you can take to defend against these threats. It begins by introducing and defining the concepts essential to understanding the security threats to contemporary mobile devices, and then takes readers through all the policy, process, and technology decisions that must be made to create an effective security strategy. Highlighting the risks inherent when mobilizing data, the text supplies a proven methodology for identifying, analyzing, and evaluating these risks. It examines the various methods used to store and transport mobile data and illustrates how the security of that data changes as it moves from place to place. Addressing the technical, operational, and compliance issues relevant to a comprehensive mobile security policy, the text:Provides methods for modeling the interaction between mobile data and mobile devices—detailing the advantages and disadvantages of eachExplains how to use encryption and access controls to protect your data Describes how to layer different technologies to create a resilient mobile data protection programProvides examples of effective mobile security policies and discusses the implications of different policy approachesHighlights the essential elements of a mobile security business case and provides examples of the information such proposals should containReviews the most common mobile device controls and discusses the options for implementing them in your mobile environmentSecuring your mobile data requires the proper balance between security, user acceptance, technology capabilities, and resource commitment. Supplying real-life examples and authoritative guidance, this complete resource walks you through the process of creating an effective mobile security program and provides the understanding required to develop a customized approach to securing your information.




Android Security Internals


Book Description

There are more than one billion Android devices in use today, each one a potential target. Unfortunately, many fundamental Android security features have been little more than a black box to all but the most elite security professionals—until now. In Android Security Internals, top Android security expert Nikolay Elenkov takes us under the hood of the Android security sys­tem. Elenkov describes Android security archi­tecture from the bottom up, delving into the imple­mentation of major security-related components and subsystems, like Binder IPC, permissions, cryptographic providers, and device administration. You’ll learn: –How Android permissions are declared, used, and enforced –How Android manages application packages and employs code signing to verify their authenticity –How Android implements the Java Cryptography Architecture (JCA) and Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) frameworks –About Android’s credential storage system and APIs, which let applications store cryptographic keys securely –About the online account management framework and how Google accounts integrate with Android –About the implementation of verified boot, disk encryption, lockscreen, and other device security features –How Android’s bootloader and recovery OS are used to perform full system updates, and how to obtain root access With its unprecedented level of depth and detail, Android Security Internals is a must-have for any security-minded Android developer.




Android Forensics


Book Description

"Android Forensics" covers an open source mobile device platform based on the Linux 2.6 kernel and managed by the Open Handset Alliance. This book provides a thorough review of the Android platform including supported hardware devices, the structure of the Android development project, and implementation of core services (wireless communication, data storage, and other low-level functions).




Mobile Application Penetration Testing


Book Description

Explore real-world threat scenarios, attacks on mobile applications, and ways to counter them About This Book Gain insights into the current threat landscape of mobile applications in particular Explore the different options that are available on mobile platforms and prevent circumventions made by attackers This is a step-by-step guide to setting up your own mobile penetration testing environment Who This Book Is For If you are a mobile application evangelist, mobile application developer, information security practitioner, penetration tester on infrastructure web applications, an application security professional, or someone who wants to learn mobile application security as a career, then this book is for you. This book will provide you with all the skills you need to get started with Android and iOS pen-testing. What You Will Learn Gain an in-depth understanding of Android and iOS architecture and the latest changes Discover how to work with different tool suites to assess any application Develop different strategies and techniques to connect to a mobile device Create a foundation for mobile application security principles Grasp techniques to attack different components of an Android device and the different functionalities of an iOS device Get to know secure development strategies for both iOS and Android applications Gain an understanding of threat modeling mobile applications Get an in-depth understanding of both Android and iOS implementation vulnerabilities and how to provide counter-measures while developing a mobile app In Detail Mobile security has come a long way over the last few years. It has transitioned from "should it be done?" to "it must be done!"Alongside the growing number of devises and applications, there is also a growth in the volume of Personally identifiable information (PII), Financial Data, and much more. This data needs to be secured. This is why Pen-testing is so important to modern application developers. You need to know how to secure user data, and find vulnerabilities and loopholes in your application that might lead to security breaches. This book gives you the necessary skills to security test your mobile applications as a beginner, developer, or security practitioner. You'll start by discovering the internal components of an Android and an iOS application. Moving ahead, you'll understand the inter-process working of these applications. Then you'll set up a test environment for this application using various tools to identify the loopholes and vulnerabilities in the structure of the applications. Finally, after collecting all information about these security loop holes, we'll start securing our applications from these threats. Style and approach This is an easy-to-follow guide full of hands-on examples of real-world attack simulations. Each topic is explained in context with respect to testing, and for the more inquisitive, there are more details on the concepts and techniques used for different platforms.