Mobile Application Penetration Testing

Improve Mobile Application Security

Our mobile application penetration testing reduces organizational risk and improves application security

Google announced that Android now runs more than 2.5 billion devices. That’s up from 2 billion the company announced two years ago. Apple and other mobile companies are in a similar race.

The mobile app industry is thriving and expected to generate over $935 billion dollars by 2023. The unstoppable growth of this industry also brings a lot of security related issues due to the rush release of mobile app without adequate security testing and protection.

There is no denying the fact that mobile applications are one of the greatest sources of exploitation today. Mobile apps are prone to flaws, which are very similar to web applications and desktop applications. These vulnerabilities can be identified by our mobile application penetration testing service, which detects any kind of flaw and vulnerability in mobile apps.

What to Expect in our Mobile Pentesting Service

Our comprehensive mobile security testing delivers coverage across the complete mobile app environment, from the local app running on-device to the back-end web services and RESTful APIs that power mobile apps off-device.

ARCHITECTURE, DESIGN AND THREAT ANALYSIS

For each component of the app, the scope of functions and security features must be clearly defined and known. Most apps communicate with interfaces, so appropriate security standards must also be implemented for these API endpoints.

DATA STORAGE AND DATA PROTECTION

The protection of sensitive data such as user credentials and private information is a key focus in the area of mobile security. Data leaks can occur unintentionally in cloud data storage, backups or keyboard cache. In addition, mobile devices can be more easily lost or stolen.

CRYPTOGRAPHY

Cryptography is an essential cornerstone for protecting data stored on mobile devices. But it is also a category where many things can go wrong, especially if you don’t follow standard conventions. The category is intended to ensure that a verified app uses cryptography best practices.

NETWORK COMMUNICATION

The purpose of this category is to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of transmitted data between mobile app and remote server. To achieve this, a mobile app must establish a secure, encrypted channel for network communication using the TLS protocol with adequate TLS settings.

PLATFORM INTERACTION

The requirements in this category are intended to ensure that platform components and standard components are used by the app in a secure manner. In addition, the requirements also cover communication (IPC) between apps.

CODE QUALITY AND BUILD SETTINGS

The goal of this category is to ensure that basic security practices are followed during app development and that the included security features of the compiler are enabled.

TAMPER PROTECTION

This category covers Defense-in-Depth measures recommended for apps that contain access to sensitive data or sensitive functionality. If these measures are not implemented, this does not immediately lead to a vulnerability, but the measures increase the robustness of the app against attacks and reverse engineering.

OWASP Mobile Top 10

M1	Improper Platform Usage
M2	Insecure Data Storage
M3	Insecure Communication
M4	Insecure Authentication
M5	Insufficient Cryptography
M6	Insecure Authorization
M7	Client Code Quality
M8	Code Tampering
M9	Reverse Engineering
M10	Extraneous Functionality

What is the OWASP Mobile Top 10?

The OWASP Mobile Top 10 is a list of the most critical security risks to mobile applications, identified by an industry consensus. Adopting the OWASP Mobile Top 10 in your mobile app development and security assessment processes is a strong step in improving mobile application security for your business.

Our Mobile Application Security Testing Methodology

Zeroday.PRO Labs operates under a structured, repeatable methodology. We prioritize this concept in each engagement to make certain that our assessment is reliable, reproducible, and top-notch in quality. As such, our findings can always be verified by your team, before and after the remediation. To get these results, we are guided by the following steps:

SCOPING

This is where all requirements are gathered and goals are set. It’s where types of tests, forms, timelines and limitations are codified and agreed.

RECON AND ENUMERATION

In this phase, we perform recon against the target mobile app to understand more about its architecture such as language, libraries, API, security protections, as well as technical specifications.

DYNAMIC ANALYSIS

We perform deeper analysis and look for vulnerabilities that are related to insecure data storage, authentication, custom URL schemes, broken crypto, client side protections & hardening, and more.

STATIC ANALYSIS

We decompile or reverse engineer the mobile app to gain in-depth understanding of the functionality. The process also involves analysis of insecure crypto services such as hardcoded keys, insecure algorithm usage, and so on.

API ANALYSIS

All the API endpoints communicating with the mobile app are also analyzed for potential security issues. We perform dynamic application analysis and ensure complete coverage of OWASP API Top 10 vulnerabilities.

EXPLOITATION

We use a combination of public available and custom-made exploits and techniques in order to tamper with improper configurations, bypass security controls, access sensitive information and in general to establish access to the targets.

REPORTING

We have developed a comprehensive reporting format that provides optimal insight into our work. It consists of a business risk, management summary and a comprehensive test and vulnerability description.

PATCH VERIFICATION

We are happy to re-examine the security weaknesses to ensure that the defense mechanisms have been implemented correctly. This process activity is always free of charge.

Manual vs Automated Penetration Testing

Manual Testing bring an element of human intelligence to your security efforts, and simulates the thinking and logic used by cybercriminals.

Frequently asked questions about Web Application Pentesting

What is mobile application penetration testing?

A mobile application penetration test is a type of ethical hacking assessment designed to assess the architecture and design of mobile applications in order to identify cyber security risks that could lead to unauthorised access and data exposure of your high-risk cyber assets.

Who performs a mobile application penetration test?

Zeroday.PRO mobile application penetration testing is performed by our team of Offensive Security certified team, who possess an in-depth understanding of the latest threats and adversarial techniques.

What information is needed to scope a mobile app pentest?

The information needed to help scope a mobile application security test typically includes the number and types of mobile applications (native, hybrid, or web) to be tested, and whether the test will be performed from an unauthenticated and or/authenticated perspective (where login credentials are unknown/known).

What mobile application security testing tools are used?

Penetration testing for mobile applications not only requires knowledge of the latest mobile application security testing tools but also a deep understanding of how to use them most effectively. To assess mobile app security, ethical hackers leverage a range of offensive tools (Frida, Objection, Burp Suite and more) to perform a forensic examination of the file system, assessment of the network communication between the application and server, and an evaluation of the application’s inter-process communication (IPC).

How long does a mobile application security test take?

The time it takes an ethical hacker to complete a mobile application penetration test depends on the scope of the test, including the number and type of mobile apps, complexity and size.

What happens at the end of a mobile app pentest?

After each mobile application security test, the ethical hacker(s) assigned to the test will produce a custom written report, detailing any weaknesses identified, associated risk levels and recommended remedial actions.

How much does a mobile application penetration test cost?

The cost of a mobile application penetration test is determined by the number of days our ethical hackers require to fulfil the agreed scope of the engagement. As part of the initial scoping process, a quote is produced upon completion and return of a short pre-evaluation questionnaire.

Why should I use Zeroday.PRO?

Zeroday.PRO team hold certifications from the leading industry organizations, including Offensive Security Certified Expert 3 (OSCE3), Offensive Security Experienced Penetration Tester (OSEP), Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) and more. Our security engineers are hugely experienced at performing network security testing and website security testing and can help your organisation to identify vulnerabilities in a range of programming languages and environments.