Data security is one of the primary concerns of most companies in the digital age of today. With increased connectivity between devices, security breaches have become a large threat. Android upgrades the platform quite frequently, and keeping up with those upgrades is usually ineffective on the part of many device manufacturers.
Android, as a platform, has built-in features that reduce the probability of security issues. Even if they arise, the impact is not too damaging. The core architecture has features like Sandbox, with which you can isolate application data from other applications. Similarly, the framework enables robust functionality implementation, which favors cryptography and relevant permissions.
This article aims to provide you with tips to ensure Android app security.
Four best practices for android app security
Businesses need to keep their application data secure. It is pertinent for maintaining a positive brand image to keep security stringent. When your app has been developed in such a way that best coding practices have been taken into account, you can achieve this goal.
You cannot ensure all of this without the help of a seasoned expert. Get closer to users and reduce issues affecting your customers with their help. Some of the best practicing tips which a professional application developer must follow are as follows:
1. Store data adequately
Three options that you have for data storage are internal storage, external storage, and content providers. Each has its own issues pertaining to data security. Internal storage is useful for the data which you want to keep access to your app only. For most applications, this way is sufficient to manage and store data. But if you want to share data from your app to another app process, you will need to make use of content providers.
Besides internal storage, you can use external storage sources like SD cards. When you save file son external storage, you can set access to global sources for reading and writing them. When you are utilizing external storage, you will need to perform input validations when handing data. To be on the safe side, do not keep any executable and class files in external storage with global access.
2. Use permissions carefully
One of the significant features of Android as a platform is that it sandboxes applications from each other. Thus, it becomes pertinent for applications to share resources and data explicitly with each other. For this, they need to declare permissions so as to add additional capabilities to their application process, which Sandbox doesn’t provide.
Developers need to keep the number of permissions for app requests to a minimum. With this strategy, they can reduce the levels of risks of misuse of those permissions by the requesting devices and applications. When you create new permissions, ensure that you perform access checks by making use of existing permissions.
3. Use networking tactically
Network transactions involve the transmission of private data. Thus these transactions are risky in nature. This data belongs to your user, and people are now getting more and more aware of their rights and cyber security consciousness. Thus, you need to ensure the security of your users’ data on your app. You can do so by implementing networking best practices of the industry.
Firstly, you need to ensure the utilization of appropriate protocols. Secondly, use the SSL Socket to implement authenticated encrypted socket-level communication. You must also ensure the security of user to user communication because SMS has its security limitations. Prefer using Google cloud messaging for user-to-user communication.
4. Carry out input validation
One of the most severe sources of security issues in android devices is insufficient input validations. Android platform has countermeasures that provide resistance against such security lapses. One of the ways to reduce the input validation caused security issues is to make use of those features. Another way is to operate in languages with type-safe capability.
Common languages with escape characters and script injection are more vulnerable to these problems. These include JavaScript and SQL. When you get your app developed, make sure you hire an experienced team of developers. You can rely on the expertise of best mobile app development company such as Spiral Click to reduce the potential risk to your app. They will use the adequate features for reduction of input validation issues.
Ensure your android app security!
All mobile applications run on data. You, as an owner, are responsible for the security of this data, whether it belongs to the app itself or the users. You can ensure Android app security by seeking professional mobile app development company in Dubai who are capable of implementing the industry’s best practices.
Make sure that the data storage is carried out adequately. The permissions are less in number and not without security checks. The input validation checks are not insufficient. Last but not least, make sure the networking transactions have minimal exposure.
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