In our time, the continuous evolution of mobile devices and applications leads entrepreneurs and developers to adopt a significant number of operating systems, showing particular preference for the Android operating system. The main criteria for their choice are, on the one hand, the appeal to consumers and, on the other hand, the low purchase cost. However, Android presents a serious disadvantage, and that is the vulnerability to the violation of user data and information. In addition to Android, iOS is among the targets of hackers. Undoubtedly, hackers are increasingly trained in hacking mobile applications and devices in order to extract personal data from users.
It is worth noting that Apple ensures users higher quality and security of applications in the user database, compared to Google, which has led to a decrease in the preference of the Android system in the market. It is true that with the ever-increasing illegal activity of hackers, it is almost impossible to release an Android application on the market that will not fall “victim” of hacking. However, there are ways in which aspiring entrepreneurs and Android developers can avoid data breaches in their application, providing security and improvement to them and therefore gain public trust and increase the market for their applications.
- Encryption of each user's local application data
One of the main disadvantages of an Android mobile application is that the data stored on the device is accessible to other applications, some of which may be malicious and therefore pose risks to the personal data of each user. In such cases, data protection can be done by encrypting local files, with the help of the security library. This is because the displayed data will be in the form of a unique address, which will not be decoded and used further until it is decrypted using the correct cryptographic technique. At the same time, this way greater speed and ease of use is achieved. Thus, it will be more difficult for hackers to “invade” the user database
- Examining application logs
App logs are undoubtedly a valuable “weapon” for app professionals as it helps them analyze the workings of the algorithms behind the data processes in their app and consider how to achieve the desired results. However, these app logs may contain sensitive information such as passwords and user tokens and because these logs are publicly accessible, hackers can easily misuse them to serve their respective goals. In such a case, the best method to avoid data breach is to ensure that the Android mobile app does not use these logs.
- HTTPS protocol implementation
The HTTP protocol is commonly used to transfer data between an Android app and a server. However, the data shared over this protocol is not encrypted, which puts user information at risk. Therefore, it is once again necessary for Android app developers to replace HTTP with its encrypted version, HTTPS.
- Sync with the latest Android development guidelines
Google has started implementing strict guidelines to ensure that every app that goes live on the PlayStore is not malicious. Therefore, keeping up to date with the latest Android app development guidelines is essential to avoid data breaches.
