The Open Worldwide Application Security Project has recently updated its list of top ten mobile security risks. It has been a long time coming as it was last updated in 2016. It not only highlights the mobile security threats but also provides guidance on how to secure mobile apps through its Mobile Application Security Verification Standards (MASVS).
OWASP Mobile Top 10 highlights the most critical vulnerabilities, while mobile application security verification standards sets a security standard and offers detailed testing protocols. Developers should use the Mobile Top 10 as an initial step towards secure coding practices, then apply mobile application security verification standards for a thorough security assessment.
Top 10 Mobile Risks For 2024, According To OWASP
Here are ten mobile threats you can not afford to ignore in 2024, according to OWASP.
1. Poor Use of Credentials
According to OWASP, security of credentials and API keys is the biggest security risk. Most businesses are still using hard coded credentials which are much easier to steal for hackers. Couple that with the improper run time secret usage on mobile and use of wireless networks and your mobile devices are more vulnerable to data breaches and cybersecurity attacks.
2. Poor Supply Chain Security
As more and more businesses started relying on software supply chains, the number of supply chain attacks continued to grow. With third party vendors not taking security as seriously, there are vulnerabilities and security loopholes throughout the software supply chain that can be easily exploited by attackers.
What’s even worse is that threat actors can go unnoticed and easily slip under the radar while injecting malicious code in your application.The best way to protect your business against supply chain attacks is to check every piece of third party code you use and sign it before making it go live. Make sure that your app is attested as un modified at the run time.
3. Insecure Authentication and Authorization
Authentication and authorization, ranked third on the OWASP list, are often combined but serve distinct functions: authentication verifies a user’s identity, while authorization confirms they have the right to access specific resources.
Authentication issues involve the theft and misuse of user credentials, allowing unauthorized logins or direct backend access.Authorization problems stem from improperly implemented access controls.App attestation and runtime integrity checks are crucial for detecting unauthorized code changes and ensuring secure access management.
4. Lack of Input Output Validation
Most vulnerabilities in application programming interfaces occur due to modification of input data by malicious threat actors.SQL injection attacks, cross site scripting attacks and command injection attacks are some of the examples of this. These types of attacks can lead to data breaches, service disruptions, remote code execution and can also corrupt your data.
5. Open Communication
Mobile devices and mobile apps are all about sending and receiving data. Securing that data during transfer or communication is crucial but also quite challenging. Since apps use API channels for communication between apps and dedicated server hosting, cybercrimminals can launch man in the middle attack to spoof sensitive business information during transit.Attackers can either use app repackaging or can leverage hooking techniques to change app behavior at run time.
6. Loose Privacy Controls
Data privacy has never been a top priority for businesses until recently.As a result, they fail to protect unwanted access to personally identifiable information of their customers. Once this data lands into the wrong hands, it can be leaked, destroyed or blocked.
Create apps that comply with all the data privacy regulations such as General Data Protection Regulation and California Consumer Privacy Act. You can segment your network, Vps server hosting and move your sensitive data there for added security.
7. No Binary Protection
To safeguard against binary attacks that steal intellectual property or alter app functionality through reverse engineering or code tampering, using code obfuscation can significantly delay attackers and should be employed to protect IP from competitors.
Additionally, implementing runtime protection and app integrity checks is crucial to detect and block any modifications to the app.A swift deployment and rotation strategy for API keys and secrets, as described in M1, is also essential for a comprehensive mitigation approach.
8. Security Misconfiguration
App developers have tight deadlines to meet which is why they have to speed up the development process.This increases the risk of human errors and security misconfigurations.To minimize the risk of security misconfigurations, businesses must make app developers follow coding and configuration best practices.Additionally, you can also follow the principle of least privilege to prevent access abuse.
9. Absence of Data Storage Security
Mobile devices can store tons of data.Unfortunately, not all of that data is stored in secure storage.This means that it can easily be stolen by cyber attackers.They can either take advantage of unauthorized access to mobile device file systems or steal data during motion.They can also execute malicious code and install malicious apps on your device to steal data stored on the mobile device.
Rooted android phones and jailbroken iphones are more prone to data breaches as threat actors can bypass these security measures easily and gain access to sensitive data stored in your mobile device. Use strong encryption, enforce stringent session control and implement access controls that prevent attackers from accessing data stored on your mobile device.
10. Use of Outdated Cryptographic Algorithms
There are many different types of cryptographic algorithms.Some are more secure than others.Unfortunately, most businesses are using cryptographic algorithms that can easily be bypassed by cyber attackers. As a result, their data is accessible to threat actors despite using encryption and cryptography.Avoid using outdated cryptographic algorithms to secure your data.
Which of these mobile risks pose the biggest threat to your business? Share it with us in the comments section below.
