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[DroidCon Lisbon 2019] Intro to Android App Security

Marc Obrador
September 10, 2019

[DroidCon Lisbon 2019] Intro to Android App Security

In this talk we cover the basics of Android App Security.
We first start with an introduction and motivation, talking about why do you need to care about app security, what are the important things to protect, and try to understand the motivation an attacker might have to hack your application.
After that we move on to more technical details, covering the things you (as a developer) can do to protect your applications against the most common security threads. This includes secure networking, user data protection, dealing with rooted devices, IP protection, etc.

Marc Obrador

September 10, 2019
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Transcript

  1. Who am I? @marcobrador 2 Marc Obrador Head of Product

    Architecture @ Build38 Barcelona [email protected] @marcobrador /in/marc-obrador
  2. 3 Agenda 1. Introduction 2. Some Common Threads 1. Man-In-The-Middle

    (a.k.a Insecure Networking) 2. App Tampering & Repackaging 3. Rooted Devices 3. Recap @marcobrador
  3. 4 Agenda 1. Introduction 2. Some Common Threads 1. Man-In-The-Middle

    (a.k.a Insecure Networking) 2. App Tampering & Repackaging 3. Rooted Devices 3. Recap @marcobrador
  4. Mobile-first world Why do I need to care about Mobile

    App Security? 5 Smartphone = untrusted device Regulation (depending on market) Desktop Mobile 2009 2015 2020 0 20 40 60 80 100 Source: www.gs.statcounter.com @marcobrador
  5. -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 -10 -5 0

    5 10 15 20 25 M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9 M10 M11 M12 Investment Income Cumulated Profit The hacker’s perspective 10 @marcobrador
  6. -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 -10 -5 0

    5 10 15 20 25 M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9 M10 M11 M12 Investment Income Cumulated Profit The hacker’s perspective 13 @marcobrador
  7. -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 -10 -5 0

    5 10 15 20 25 M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7 M8 M9 M10 M11 M12 Investment Income Cumulated Profit How can I protect my app? 14 @marcobrador
  8. 15 Agenda 1. Introduction 2. Some Common Threads 1. Man-In-The-Middle

    (a.k.a Insecure Networking) 2. App Tampering & Repackaging 3. Rooted Devices 3. Recap @marcobrador
  9. 16 Agenda 1. Introduction 2. Some Common Threads 1. Man-In-The-Middle

    (a.k.a Insecure Networking) 2. App Tampering & Repackaging 3. Rooted Devices 3. Recap @marcobrador
  10. - MITM = eavesdropping of network data - It’s 2019

    – use HTTPS! - Certificate pinning is also a good idea Understanding MITM 17 @marcobrador
  11. Enforce HTTPS 18 * Applies only to API <= 27.

    Enforced by default on newer versions. Source: https://developer.android.com/training/articles/security-config @marcobrador
  12. 20 Agenda 1. Introduction 2. Some Common Threads 1. Man-In-The-Middle

    (a.k.a Insecure Networking) 2. App Tampering & Repackaging 3. Rooted Devices 3. Recap @marcobrador
  13. - Modifying an APK and redistributing it for malicious purposes

    - Goals: § Modify original behavior o Getting paid features for free o Cheating on a game (Pokémon GO) o … § Stealing user data What is it? 21 @marcobrador
  14. 25 Agenda 1. Introduction 2. Some Common Threads 1. Man-In-The-Middle

    (a.k.a Insecure Networking) 2. App Tampering & Repackaging 3. Rooted Devices 3. Recap @marcobrador
  15. - User may have legitimately rooted its device - Remote

    root exploits are a thing - No clear action… § Restrict some sensitive functionality § Design your security model assuming that root can (will) happen What to do if Root is found? 29 @marcobrador
  16. 30 Agenda 1. Introduction 2. Some Common Threads 1. Man-In-The-Middle

    (a.k.a Insecure Networking) 2. App Tampering & Repackaging 3. Rooted Devices 3. Recap @marcobrador
  17. - Know what you need to protect - 100% protection

    does not exist – aim for “good enough” - Secure Networking is a must - Java/Kotlin are super easy to reverse engineer § Move security-relevant logic to backend or write it in C/C++ - Root can be really bad – come up with a plan Recap 31 @marcobrador