Today as digitalization is sweeping across the world, the way humans live and work is changing. The majority of tasks that used to be done physically are being done virtually with the help of mobile apps. Mobile apps have been an essential tool for digitalization and have contributed significantly to its growth. But as the world entered the world of technology, security concerns grew regarding the safety of sensitive data amidst the growing concern over cyber theft and data breach. According to , in a survey carried out in September 2018 amongst U.S. adults, 32.7 percent of respondents said they suffered their social media or email account hack. In another study carried in 2018, 14 percent of respondents said that their online accounts were hacked more than once.
For years, cyber theft, security breaches, and identity thefts have been a considerable security concern for governments, private organizations, and individuals, often resulting in significant monetary losses. To address these safety concerns, developers need to keep security as a priority during . Especially when it comes to fintech, eCommerce, social media apps, and other such apps requiring sensitive user information, security needs to be up to date. App developers need to practice ways that can help them develop an app with impeccable security. Security is not just a right of users but also a way of improving the credibility of the app and the organization. In this post, we’ll discuss some tips that can help developers develop a secure mobile app. So, let’s move forward and check out some tips to create a secure mobile app.
#1 Make security a priority from day 1
Many amateur developers consider security a secondary aspect and focus more on sharpening features like user interface, operating speed, graphics, and such things. This mistake often ends up creating loopholes in the mobile app, leading to security breaches and data theft of the app users, which is not good for the company and its credibility. Moreover, many developers hold security on a low priority basis and choose to evaluate security risks at the end of the app development process. This is again a very terrible mistake that often ends up costing time and money to the company. Hence it’s advisable to development teams to keep security at the top of their priority list and work on it from day 1 of the mobile app development cycle. Use state-of-the-art . This will help figure out the security threats on time and ensure the app has optimum security to improve the organization’s credibility.
#2 Create a special team for security
One way of ensuring that security is always uptight and eliminating the possibility of any loopholes in any step of the development process is to assign a special team for security. This team will analyze the security at any phase of and advise the development team to fix critical issues. Assigning a separate security team to keep a check on security and address core concerns is advisable for organizations. This practice reduces the burden on the app development teams and allows them to focus on other core issues of the app development process. Moreover, this practice ensures that security is being tested at every point, and any threat or loophole is addressed right away to ensure that app development is done in minimal time.
#3 Use best authentication practices
One way to ensure that the correct user assesses the mobile app is to authenticate their identity. Traditional authentication practices included inserting usernames and unique passwords chosen by the users at the time of signing up on a particular app. But this practice, though reliable, was not strong enough to keep hackers from figuring out the passwords. Poor passwords used to be the main reason behind social media breaches and data theft. Hence it has become more critical to engrave other authentication measures along with passwords. Two-factor authentication is one such factor that adds an extra layer of security to the user account.
In this authentication method, the users need to provide two authentication factors to verify themselves and assess the app. In regular single authentication practices, only a password was asked, but in a two-step authentication process along with a password, one more factor, either security questions previously answered by the user or biometrics authentication, is used. In biometric authentication, the user is verified using the fingerprint scan or facial recognition method. This type of authentication method is advisable for fintech apps and other such mobile apps that require frequent payments.
#4 Regular testing
One of the other best methods to ensure impeccable security aside from recruiting special teams is regular testing. Regular testing at every step of the app development cycle is necessary to identify loopholes or errors that can end up being security threats in the future. Most developers choose to test to be done at the end of the development process when all the algorithms have been written. This often leads coders to miss minor errors at the beginning of the process that becomes hard to resolve after completion. Moreover, testing a completely written project is a very time-consuming and inefficient process. Additionally, resolving the issue is more difficult when the entire codebase has been designed. Hence, it is advisable to the developers to conduct regular testing, especially automated testing, to ensure that even the slightest error is diagnosed and solved at the earliest to avoid any security issues.
#5 Encrypt communications
Communications made on social media or chatting apps must be kept private between the participating parties. Many people share sensitive information on this platform with their friends and family members, which must be kept confidential. If this information falls into the wrong hands can cause breaching of privacy and cybercrime like identity theft. Moreover, people share banking information too using this platform, making it more essential for the mobile app service provider to safeguard the privacy and security of the user information. Platforms like Whatsapp use end-to-end encryption to ensure that the messages shared are only accessible to the two parties, and no third party can assess the information, not even Whatsapp. Hence, it’s advisable for developers and companies seeking app development to ensure that the communication done using the app is well encrypted. App development service seekers must check the list of top app development companies cataloged by Goodfirms to find the right service provider to cater to their needs.
Wrapping up
Mobile apps have become a part of daily life and help individuals perform their routine tasks in one or more ways. Today, most tasks are done using mobile apps, be it communicating with family and friends, sending money, paying bills, buying groceries, or anything else, and one can do these chores effortlessly in minutes. But along with the luxury and convenience these apps offer, sometimes they end up breaching security and lead to cyber theft. This not only affects the users but also severely affects the service provider and their credibility. Hence it’s vital to ensure that the mobile app has impeccable security to safeguard users’ data and communication. In this post, we mentioned some tips that should be followed to build a secure mobile app. Developers must follow the tips mentioned above to create a safe and hence successful mobile app.
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Author Bio- Hi There, I am Shaun Williams, a content writer with , a research platform for Cloud Computing, Ecommerce companies, Translation services companies, among many others. I enjoy communicating ideas and knowledge creatively and also ensure that the readers never suffer from boredom while reading my posts.