Be aware or beware: Easily insert security into your mobile apps

COVID-19 has quickly pushed companies over the technological tipping point. The pandemic has accelerated the pace of digital transformation across all industries. The overall effect has resulted in more communication through digital channels and an increase in the number of mobile apps. There truly is an app for everything now and so it’s imperative that these apps are properly protected. That means building protection into the app as opposed to bolting it on later.  This blog addresses how to add security to your Intelligent DevOps lifecycle. 

Assessing the threat landscape 

There are new threats emerging all the time and we need to continue to evolve in order to combat them. Security trends that have emerged in the threat landscape within the past few years include: 

• Monetization: The rise of cryptocurrencies has made payoff for cybercriminals easier. 

• Industrialization: Cyberweapons in the form of software, tools, and even services are more widely available for purchase. Bad actors no longer need skills, only motive. 

• Nationalization: Bad actors no longer rely on personal or crime syndicate budgets. They have government level budgets at their disposal, which means they have more time to and resources to carry out their goals. 

With hackers now equipped with everything they need to be a threat to your organization, it’s essential for you to secure your applications with the best practices. Features like perimeter tools, code scanning, and web app firewalls that are found in traditional security measures no longer stack up against bad actors.  

According to Matt Pelaggi, Product Owner, Essential App Protection at Digital.ai, traditional app security is like having a moat surrounding your castle for protection.  

“Seemingly, this moat will keep everyone out,” says Pelaggi. “But if somehow somebody can swim through this moat, then they can basically do whatever they want since they’ve breached the castle.” 

The Digital.ai difference 

So, what should app developers do to improve their current protection measures? First, accept that mobile, client-side apps, medical devices and IoT devices all live outside the firewall, therefore security must be added to the SDLC itself to properly protect these applications. Adding security into the DevOps or SDLC is first and foremost a cultural shift. Developers need tools that are easily understood and inserted into the SDLC and security managers need effective controls in order to ensure an improved process. 

Digital.ai takes a “shift-left” approach to application security. Rather than offer a perimeter-based security, like the moat around a castle, Digital.ai focuses on building protection into the application itself. This shift left, or inside-out, approach protects applications from tampering and reverse engineering. Subsequently, these protections help ensure that the applications you give to your customers do not themselves become vectors for attack. 

As the industry evolves, different types of attacks evolve as well. Digital.ai’s Essential App Protection is a low-code approach to scale app security and intelligently assess and respond to threats. This tool is executed via a single script that can be integrated into your CICD pipeline and instrument runtime protection without configuration. This simplifies the protection process, as it allows non-technical employees to secure apps after coding. 

Types of attacks that Digital.ai prevents include: 

• Application Cloning 

• Credential theft 

• IP theft 

• Fraud 

• Keylogging 

• Script injection 

• Magecart attacks 

Be aware of potential threats 

Remember, it’s not necessarily the data within the app that’s most important, it’s what your app connects to. Digital.ai App Aware, a tool designed to continuously assess and rank risks while dynamically adapting security posture, lets you know whether or not your app is being attacked and if you need to improve the security surrounding it. 

“[Digital.ai] allows App Aware to show you what’s actually happening, and you can react based on that,” explains Pelaggio. “So now instead of continuously developing, detecting, and deploying, you can gain some insight into [the issue] and adapt accordingly.” 

Using Digital.ai’s tool, you can easily view App Aware events to check if anyone has been attacking your applications, your applications’ health status, threat logs, and other guards.  

The bottom line 

With tools like Essential App Protection, it’s easy to build security into your development lifecycle quickly and effectively. With years of experience protecting some of the most demanding enterprises in the world, Digital.ai has the security you need against some of the most sophisticated attacks. 

To learn more about Essential App Protection and App Aware, check out our webinar: “Quick and easy ways to insert security into your mobile AppDev lifecycle.”