Symosis mobile application security risks presentation at ISACA SV. The presentation top 3 covers mobile application security risks and helps you prioritize your risk remediation efforts

1. Mobile Apps Security Risk Assessment
Kartik Trivedi / Lenin Aboagye

2. For the Demo…
please download and install the following
apps on your mobile device and create an
account
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3. Who are we?
• Kartik Trivedi
– Co-founder of Symosis
– Author / Speaker / Interviews - Forbes, Security
Focus, Tech world, Security News, etc
– Golfer (Advanced Amateur? )
• Lenin Aboagye
– Security Architect Apollo group
– Cloud / Mobile security expert
– Media & Television, Education, Health, Real Estate and
Energy industries experience
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4. Agenda
Introduction
Growth / Revenue
Security Concerns
Mobile Apps Top 3 Risks
Countermeasures & Risk Management
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5. There is an App for that!
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6. There is an App for that!
• Pay bills • Small Business Payroll
• File income taxes • Pay invoice
• Pay property tax • Location based check in
• Scan & Shop • Personal finance
• Deposit checks • Investments & 401k
• Transfer money • Health & Fitness
• Store medical records • Productivity
• Refill prescription • Facebook / twitter
• Manage health information • Place bets on sports
• Remember your meds • Utilities
• Book flight / hotel • Store passwords
• Medscape / pharmacopia • Document storage
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8. 53% of Fortune 500 companies
have mobile apps
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9. Business Case for Mobile Presence
• Networking / communication - unprecedented level of
connectivity between employees, vendors, and/or
customers
• Instant Feedback - sharing information through this
medium allows businesses to get immediate feedback on
products and services from customers.
• Marketing - SMS (text) messaging, mobile websites, mobile
applications, banner ads, QR codes, IVR messaging and
more.
• Commerce – Mobile ticketing, vouchers, coupons, loyalty
cards, content purchase, delivery, location based
services, Information services, mobile banking, mobile
brokerage, mobile purchase
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10. Security Concerns
• Side Channel Data Leakage • Activity monitoring and data retrieval
• Insufficient Transport Layer Protection • Unauthorized dialing, SMS, and payments
• Weak Server Side Controls • Unauthorized network connectivity (data
exfiltration or command & control)
• Insecure Data Storage
• UI (unique identifier) impersonation
• Client Side Injection
• System modification (rootkit, APN proxy
• Poor Authorization and
configuration)
Authentication
• Mobile Malware
• Improper Session Handling
• Criminals Target and Infect App Stores
• Security Decisions Via Untrusted
Inputs • Social-Engineering
• Geolocation compromise
• Broken Cryptography
• Security Regulatory Compliance
• Sensitive Information Disclosure
• Device Risk
• Hardcoded password/keys
• BYOD / MDM
• Privacy compliance
• Application management
• Identity exposure
• Installation of un-verified / unsigned 3rd
party apps
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11. Agenda
Introduction
Growth / Revenue
Security Concerns
Mobile Apps Top 3 Risks
Side Channel Leakage
Insecure Transport / Server Controls
Insecure Data Storage
Countermeasures & Risk Management
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12. Side Channel Data Leakage
Data leakage via platform defaults, use of third
party libraries, logging, etc
• SnapShot (ie- iOS backgrounding)
• Plist files
Sometimes result of programmatic flaws

13. Demo
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16. Agenda
Mobile Platform Risks
Mobile Apps Top 3 Risks
Side Channel Leakage
Insecure Transport / Server Controls
Insecure Data Storage
Countermeasures & Risk Management
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17. Insecure Transport/Server Controls
Failing to encrypt sensitive
network traffic consisting of
sensitive data
Insecure server controls -
web, application and
backend API - can lead to
security compromise

18. Demo
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21. TOC
Mobile Platform Risks
Mobile Apps Top 3 Risks
Side Channel Leakage
Insecure Transport / Server Controls
Insecure Data Storage
Countermeasures & Risk Management
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22. Insecure Data Storage
Locally stored data both on native and browser
based apps that includes
• SQLite / Cache files
• Keychain – Is this really secure?
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23. Demo
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25. Risk & Impact: High
Sensitive Data exposure
• Username & password
• PII, SSN, Health Information
• Device ID, Application configuration
• Account Number, Credit Card, Financial Information
Loss of Data Confidentiality & Integrity
Data Tempering
Man-in-the-Middle (MITM attack)
Impersonation
Unauthorized access to application data or
functionality
Privacy Violations / reputation damage

26. Agenda
Introduction
Mobile Apps Top 3 Risks
Insecure Data Storage
Insecure Transport / Server Controls
Side Channel Leakage
Countermeasures & Risk Management
Tactical
Strategic
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27. Secure Programming / Education
Disable Cache - Set the autocorrectionType property to
UITextAutocorrectionNo for UITestField
Disable Snapshot – Use applicationWillResignActive
delegate method
Disable Logs – Disable NSLog and NSAssert
Disable Insecure HTTP - Use NSURLConnection along with
canAuthenticateAgainstProtectionSpace
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28. Encrypt Data
Data Protection API - set the NSFileProtectionKey
on an existing file
Keychain – Apple recommends storing Sensitive
data like passwords and keys in the Keychain
CCCrypt - provides access to AES, DES, 3DES
SQLCipher (IOS & Android) - transparent
256-bit AES encryption of database files
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29. Secure Design / Architecture
• Do not trust the client. Store sensitive data on the server
• Perform server side data validation and canonicalization
• Only collect and disclose data which is required for business
use of the application
• Define and deploy secure configuration
• Establish common set of security requirements
• Perform periodic security scans and audits
• Protect sensitive data using HTTPS & SSL
• Do not log credentials, PII and other sensitive data
• Review all third party libraries before use
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30. Agenda
Mobile Platform Risks
Mobile Apps Top 3 Risks
Security Controls & Risk Management
Tactical
Strategic
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31. Mobile Strategy & Challenges
• The are 3 major components of a mobile
strategy that most organizations have to apply
– Mobile Information Management(MIM)
– Mobile Application Management(MAM)
– Mobile Device Management(MDM)
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32. MIM
• MIM refers to cloud-based services that syncs
files and documents across different devices
• MIM allows for sharing data of varying security
classification across devices with varying degrees
of trust
• MIM intersects Cloud and Mobile Security
• Public MIM services are Dropbox, Box, Microsoft
SkyDrive, GoogleDrive
• Corporate MIM solutions include
Monodesk, WatchDox, Citrix ShareFile, Vmware
Octopus
• NFC technologies could be classified as MIM 32

33. Security Challenges -MIM
• BYOD in corporate environments
• Potential synching of corporate data across both
corporate and non-corporate issued endpoints
• Sensitive bi-directional data leakage from user’s private
and personal data into corporate and vice-versa
• Access and Identity Management
• Data classification , identification and protection
• Difficult to apply and enforce any corporate security
configurations across mobile devices
• No existing virtual segregation capabilities for
corporate/user components to allow for different
security policies to be applied based on risk
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34. MDM
• MDM involves downloading software that
allows users/organizations to lock down
• MDM allows controls like
monitoring, encryption, policy enforcement
, remote wiping etc..
• Addresses security at the device level as
opposed to the application level
• Especially challenging in BYOD era
• One policy regardless of varying classification
levels of applications on device
– Policies like remote wiping could adversely affect
user personal /private data
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35. Security Issues-MDM
• Addresses security of device only
• Has little insight into security health of
applications
• Treats all applications and all data at the same
classification level
• Difficulties in adoption in corporate
environments that allows BYOD
• Does not affect or improve the security of
applications
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36. MAM
• MAM solutions allow users and organizations
to control the security of specific applications
that are deployed on mobile endpoints
• MAM can allow an organization to deliver
applications like secure
email, calendar, expense reporting
• Allows security policies to be applied
exclusively on specific applications based on
their security classification
– Encryption, remote wipe, remote application kill
etc..
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37. Security Issues-MAM
• MAM seems to have the answer for MIM’s
security challenges
• MAM should solve the BYOD challenges since it
allows for security policies to be applied to
corporate applications and their data and allows
for non-visibility into personal user information
• MAM solutions have several challenges:
– Rewrite secure versions of vendor
applications(functionality challenges)
– Allow vendors plug into their security platform
– Currently works only an a few apps
– Create a wrapper around vendor applications
(most vendors will not provide original packaged files to
wrap with MAM tools)
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38. Mobile Security Convergence
MDM
All mobile security
strategies converge
on these
MIM approaches
MAM
Mobile Application Security
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39. Thanks for listening…
kartik@symosis.com / Lenin.Aboagye@apollogrp.edu
Email info@symosis.com for a free seat to the Mobile
Apps Top 10 Security Risk Training Course
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