Mobile App Security

Mobile App Security to Prevent Injection Attacks

Mobile applications have become the new on-the-go touchpoints for users to browse the internet for information and execute various other activities. This has made mobile applications the new frontier for cybercriminals to let loose malicious codes and seek critical personal or business data. According to the Ponemon Institute, an IT firm dedicated to security-related research, about 59% of respondents reported an increase in malware attacks. Also, the mobile security report by Check Point Research unearthed the following statistics for 2021:

 97% of business enterprises or organizations faced threats from multiple attack vectors

 46% of enterprises had one employee download a malicious application

 40% of mobile devices globally are vulnerable to cyberattacks

It is only by employing a multi-pronged approach to mobile testing that business enterprises 

can protect their critical data from cybercriminals. The focus areas for such enterprises ought to include fostering application security, planning a defense strategy, upholding security policies, and securing the database layer and physical devices. This calls for implementing mobile application testing to protect the app from multiple threat vectors, especially injection attacks. Let us discuss how client-side injection attacks can be prevented by rigorously testing mobile applications.

What is an injection attack and its types?

An injection attack is all about introducing or injecting a malicious code into the network, thereby allowing the attacker to fetch information from the database. According to the OWASP, this type of attack is the number one application security risk. Here, the malicious code introduced into the software can change its execution by forcing it to execute certain commands. These attacks can impact the computer infrastructure of the affected business negatively and lead to a denial of service. An injection attack takes place due to the inherent vulnerabilities in the application code that allow users to give invalidated inputs. Examples include Cross-site Scripting (XSS), SQL Injection, Code Injection, Command Injection, CCS Injection, SMTP/IMAP Command Injection, LDAP Injection, Email Header Injection, or Host Header Injection, among others.

Risks of injection type attacks

The potential risks carried by these injection attacks include:

 Database getting corrupted

 Theft, breach, or loss of data

 Theft of information through phishing

 Loss of productivity due to system downtime

 Loss of consumer trust and brand equity

Strategies to launch injection attacks

Cybercriminals have a host of strategies up their sleeves to launch injection attacks like the ones mentioned below

 Inputting interpreted content directly to give commands to an interpreter.

 Creating buffer overflows by entering out-of-range values.

 Leaving blank fields to create errors.

 Using a man-in-the-middle attack strategy, responses from a web service are modified.

 Entering data through Near Field Communication (NFC), Bluetooth, and others.

Ways to detect an injection attack

The ideal and easiest way to detect an injection attack is by running an automated web vulnerability scanner. Similar to a pentest tool, this scanner can readily detect attack vectors and allow businesses to protect their applications. As a tool for mobile app security testing, the scanner helps plug the vulnerabilities before they are exploited by cybercriminals.How to prevent client-side injection attacks

To prevent client-side injection attacks on web applications, businesses must code the application securely. The various mobile application testing strategies include: Validation of user inputs is done by creating a list of valid statements. Also, configure inputs by context for user data.

 Use statements comprising parameterized queries to differentiate between user input and code. This mobile application testing approach helps the system understand commands and statements separately, instead of mistaking the two.

 Use of procedures defined and present in the database and called by the application. Disallow string concatenation by limiting the use of special characters.

 Use the last resort measure to escape all inputs given by the users.

 Minimize the attack area of the application by removing all unnecessary functionalities. If these features had existed, they would have had to be guarded at all times.

 Allow privileges that are important for an account, thereby ensuring strict access.

Conclusion

The sensitive and business-critical information of clients and their end customers' needs to be protected on several fronts. User input validation as part of mobile application testing should be enforced strictly as users cannot always be expected to enter legitimate data. This can significantly reduce the possibility of injection attacks through the user interface. However, care must be taken to guard against other risks as well, by hiring mobile testing services.