Is your app secure? Here is a checklist to help you find out.

Are you sure your app is safe from fraudsters? If yes, we’re taking our hat off to you! If not, see whether you are following our nine tips below to ensure your data and money are safe.

But first, let’s see why app security is essential.

So, why bother with app security?

You’ve probably spent months creating an app your users love so much. The last thing you want is to have your clients’ trust and your money stolen within seconds.

Here are some things that can happen if your app is insecure:

• Your reputation can be damaged forever. If you share your users’ data without their consent, they may go to your competitors and never come back.
• Fraudsters can trick you in ways you don’t expect. It can be fake devices, click flooding, click injection, and many more.
• You might have to face legal action, fines, and penalties. They aren’t very cheap.

We believe it’s better to be safe than sorry. See the nine tips below to secure your app, data, and money.

1. Have a hacker on your team

Have someone on your team play the role of a fraudster. The best way to prevent data leakage and fraud is to put yourself in the attackers’ shoes. This is called «pen» or «penetration testing».

Here are some tips for pen testing:

Think like a hacker. Imagine you’re really trying to hack the company you’re working for. Think of the weak spots, like password reuse, you might want to target. Remember: if you don’t do this, others might.

Test all entry points. Check every possible way a hacker could enter your app, such as through login forms, APIs, or file uploads.

Document everything. Record all findings, steps taken, and results during pen testing. This might be useful later when you need to report the results or fix the vulnerabilities.

2. Only connect your app to solutions you trust

You have no control over the code of third-party libraries, plug-ins, and app analytics tools. If you connect your app to components that are not secure, your app will get its bugs and vulnerabilities, too.

There are compliance standards like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that prove the component you’re using is safe. Use the table below to see if you can trust the platform you’ve chosen.

3. Test your app regularly

Test your app at least every development lifecycle phase to find any security loopholes. Before every piece of code gets published, you need to test it. If it’s already published, you still need to continue testing. This is the process you should be doing constantly — not only to ensure your app’s secure but to make it healthy.

The reality is — we never test enough. The bare minimum you can do is react to the crashes as quickly as possible. When an application crashes, it can expose sensitive information or leave the system vulnerable to attacks.

Start fixing crashes early when the spike is smaller. We recommend using app analytics tools that clearly show spikes, even small ones.

4. Give your team only the access they need

If there’s a team member who has access to the whole app, it might be too risky. If their account gets hacked, all of your data will leak. Only give your team members access to the app parts they work with. For example, there’s no need for your UA manager to have access to your code.

Bonus tip: when connecting your app to an analytics tool, give your team members only the necessary access. See how you can personalize access at AppMetrica →

5. Learn from other apps

If you know there is an app that experienced an attack last week, make sure your app won’t be the next one. Learn as much as you can from others, audit your app, and fix issues before the fraud gets to you.

6. Don’t use code from third-party sources

We know it’s tempting to copy the code you can easily find on the web — no one likes reinventing the wheel. But copying someone’s code makes your app weaker and easier to break in. We recommend only having code written by your team of developers. If this is not an option, see the next tip.

7. Obfuscate your code

Obfuscating code means intentionally making it complex and difficult to understand for both humans and computers.

Instead of using descriptive variable and function names, use short, cryptic names that are hard to understand. For example, instead of ‘num 1’ and ‘num 2’, the obfuscated code might be ‘d’ and ‘g.’

8. Encrypt your data

Encrypting data for app security means converting information into a secret code that can only be accessed with the correct key.

This process ensures that data is kept confidential, secure from tampering, and only accessible to authorized users. When encrypting your data, make sure to encrypt it both inside your resource folders and in your code.

9. Secure user authentication

In addition to username and password, you can add a layer of security to your authentication process by implementing multi-factor authentication (MFA).

MFA requires users to provide two or more forms of identification, such as a password and a code sent to their phone, before they can access the app. This makes it much more difficult for unauthorized users to gain access to the app, even if they have the username and password.

While making the authentication too challenging may be tempting, remember your user, too. If logging in is too hard, you’ll end up losing clients.

Before you go

Your app’s security starts with you, whether you’re a CEO or a developer. If you don’t want to risk your months of work, follow the advice above, never use the same password on multiple accounts, and spread the knowledge to the team.

You could initiate webinars on app security, find ways to test your app more often, or send your team the link to this article. Whatever you do, don’t let fraudsters steal your work.