Smartphones and apps have transformed how we approach everyday life. And while these innovations have made things infinitely more convenient, it has also opened us up to new threats that need to be addressed. This is why cyberattack prevention has become more and more important over the years. Indeed, these types of attacks are incredibly common nowadays. In fact, the number of cyberattacks has grown by a staggering 159% in Q1 of 2021 alone. This problem is just going to get worse over time, which is why you’ll want to do all you can in order to better protect yourself.
To help you out with this, we’ve prepared a few common mobile app security threats that you should definitely know about. We’ve also included the best ways to address these threats so you can start taking a more proactive approach when it comes to cybersecurity.
No Multifactor Authentication
One of the biggest threats to cybersecurity actually has nothing to do with the app itself but instead has all to do with the password that your users use. By making use of an insecure password, your users are put at risk from hackers and other cybercriminals. Luckily, there is a rather simple way around this problem: multi-factor authentication.
The entire point of multifactor authentication is to better protect your users via additional layers of protection. This means that the app won’t let them log in solely with a password. Instead, you can utilise everything from an SMS confirmation to biometric authentication to make your apps more secure.
Unencrypted Data
Protecting data should be your top priority. Leaving data unencrypted is one of the worst mistakes you can make as hackers that break into your system will be able to exploit all the data they have just gained access to.
There’s really no other way to address this issue other than encrypting your data. We understand that it’s a common security vulnerability to neglect to do this but it is in your best interest to be as thorough as possible when it comes to protecting data.
Malicious Code Injection Exposure
User-generated content is often overlooked when it comes to cybersecurity threats. What many people don’t know is that content like forms and comments can potentially be dangerous from a cybersecurity point of view. Users seeking to do damage can input a line of JavaScript into a log-in form in order to manipulate the code of the app. This can lead to a slew of different issues that will cause problems for you and your users.
With that being said, the solution to this issue is a lot simpler than you may think. For malicious code to be injected, the user in question has to input lines of JavaScript into a log-in form. You can prevent them from doing this by preemptively blocking characters like the equal sign (=) or the colon (:). These characters are common in JavaScript and can be used to access private information.
We hope the information that we’ve laid out here proves to be useful when it comes to helping with cyberattack prevention. While things may seem overly complicated, it’s not something that you won’t be able to do if you invest your time and dedicate yourself to improving your app’s cybersecurity measures.
FraudWatch specialises in protection for your mobile apps. We serve businesses, entities, and organisations of all sizes from all over the world by providing them with protection from all online threats. Get in touch with us today to learn more about the strategies that we employ for cyberattack prevention!