Approov Blog

API Abuse (5)

Rooting Android phones and jailbreaking Apple phones are generally considered to be bad things to do and strong indicators of evil intent. In this article we will explore this position a little deeper and dig into the topic. We’ll discover that the truth is much more nuanced than that and one size does indeed not fit all. Finally we will propose the methodology you should consider when setting your security policies. Read Full Story

Approov API Threat Protection protects the APIs which service your mobile apps from abuse and fraud by unauthorized bad actors. We talk to customers about how Approov authenticates genuine mobile app instances without requiring hidden secrets or design decision making in the app. We discuss the simplicity of integrating it into your app and deploying it in production. We even talk about the scalability, redundancy and resilience built into the Approov cloud service. However, what we don’t talk enough about is our metrics, a required feature to monitor and manage your service. With this article, we will give our metrics the description they deserve. Read Full Story

Photo by Ann H from Pexels When we talk about Approov API Threat Protection, we usually talk about it in the context of ensuring that only genuine instances of your own mobile app can use your API to access your backend servers. However, there is another use case which occurs commonly in our customer base - ensuring that only your SDK can use your API where you distribute your SDK to your customers. Here also, Approov is highly effective. Read Full Story

We’ve been thinking a lot about contact tracing apps in recent weeks. There are ongoing debates about whether a centralised or decentralised model is superior, and how the ensuing discussions around privacy will impact their takeup. Read Full Story

When the NHSX contact tracing app was made available in the app stores last Thursday we decided to take a quick look at its operation and how the code has been put together. We used the Android version and the excellent MobSF tools to do our reversing analysis. On Friday the full source code of the app was also published on github. Read Full Story

The eBay concept first came to light as a browser based auction platform, giving sellers a chance to offer their goods to potential buyers from across the globe, before making the transition to become one of the world’s most popular mobile auction apps. Others have since emerged, with mobile auction apps giving event organisers the tools to simplify setup and management, and buyers the simplicity and speed of making bids and performing transactions with the swipe of a finger. Of course, every financial opportunity throws itself open to dishonest practices -- and mobile auction apps are no exception. Scalping and sniping are two of the major issues faced by mobile auction operators. Read Full Story

Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash Last Friday, there was an unusual joint announcement from Apple and Google providing details of a new phone API for Covid-19 contact tracing via Bluetooth. The protocol allows mobile phones to continually transmit Bluetooth advertisements to one another. This includes a proximity identifier derived from randomly generated keys that can be held secretly on each device. If a phone user is later diagnosed with Covid-19, they are able to upload the daily tracing keys for those days when they might have been infectious. Read Full Story

With smartphone usage now a global phenomenon, mobile apps and connectivity are common denominators binding people the world over. And as the world’s nations grapple with the common dilemma of how to manage the ongoing pandemic of coronavirus or COVID-19, it’s little wonder that governments and health authorities across the planet are turning to mobile app technology as a weapon in their crisis management arsenal. Read Full Story

As mobile apps become increasingly paramount to operating successfully in today’s markets, a big question mark over API security is raised. Gartner has previously predicted that by 2022, “API abuses will be the most-frequent attack vector resulting in data breaches for enterprise web applications.” Since every mobile app out there is powered by APIs, securing them is clearly a top priority. Read Full Story

“It's the wave of the future,” declared the US State of West Virginia's Secretary of State of following a limited deployment of a blockchain-based voting app for the state's general midterm elections. For cybersecurity and election integrity advocates, however, the move was “an example of all the things states shouldn’t do when it comes to securing their elections.” Read Full Story