Application Hardening

What is application hardening?

Application hardening is the process of making an application secure by reducing its attack surface. Reducing the vulnerable surface available for attackers makes it more resilient to security threats and keeps your data secure.

Summary

App hardening is a crucial part of developing a secured mobile environment. By implementing a secure software development lifecycle process, you minimize the potential attack surface and enhance your application's resilience to security risks.

When your app is used in zero-trust environments, app hardening safeguards your users’ credentials. It determines the necessary actions in the event of an attack or compromise, preventing hackers from inspecting internal values and tampering the app.

Sometimes, attackers might try to reverse engineer your app back to an ASCII file. App hardening shields your application from these attempts. It includes changing default passwords, removing unused software, minimizing abandoned usernames and logins, and disabling unnecessary services.

Deep dive

App hardening is also called system hardening or OS hardening. Some methods used for application hardening are:

Obfuscation and cryptography: Obscures the code so that attackers can’t understand the information in the application.
Application whitelisting software: Prevents applications that haven’t been allowed from running on the system.
Authentication hardening: Secures the login and authentication process.
Keylogging prevention: Prevents hackers from recording keystrokes that might reveal a user’s login and other information.

Differences between app hardening in iOS and Android

One of the main reasons why iOS is considered more secure than Android is Apple's stringent app regulations and the closed environment of the iOS ecosystem. Apple’s App Store has strict guidelines that developers need to adhere to. Their review process includes checks for security vulnerabilities. Besides code obfuscation and encrypting sensitive data, Apple also has built-in security features like Data Protection and Secure Enclave.

The variety of Android devices and versions makes it important for developers to thoroughly test and run compatibility checks on the apps. Binary hardening, implementing permission controls, and utilizing Android's built-in security features like SELinux (Security-Enhanced Linux) harden your app against threats.

Why app hardening cannot replace secure coding practices

App hardening complements secure coding by adding additional layers of defense against threats. But it cannot replace the security measures that you integrate into the app at the development stage.

This is because by writing software with security in mind, you address vulnerabilities at the source. Without secure coding practices, your app may still contain fundamental vulnerabilities that app hardening alone cannot fully mitigate.

How app hardening helps predict, detect, and prevent attacks

Prediction: App hardening analyzes potential vulnerabilities in an app. This predictive approach allows you to implement security measures during the app hardening process.
Detection: By adding monitoring and logging mechanisms within the app, you can detect suspicious activities or unauthorized access attempts. Identifying potential security incidents in real time helps you respond promptly and take mitigation actions.
Prevention: Code obfuscation, binary hardening, and secure configuration help to prevent cyberattacks on your app.

Examples

Messaging apps: One of the most popular apps, WhatsApp uses end-to-end encryption. When you send a message, it’s encrypted on your device and can only be decrypted by receiver’s device, preventing any other app from reading your messages.
Web browsers: Google Chrome employs various app hardening techniques to protect you from malicious websites and attacks. It utilizes sandboxing to isolate individual browser tabs and processes, preventing malicious code from affecting other parts of the browser or the underlying operating system.
Healthcare apps: Healthtech apps handle sensitive medical data and must adhere to strict security standards to protect user privacy. These apps deploy encryption to safeguard patient information, ensuring compliance with regulations such as HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) in the United States.

History

When the internet became widespread, cyber attacks grew, prompting the need for stronger security measures. Recognizing the growing threat landscape, developers and security professionals began focusing on securing software applications in the late 2000s.

App hardening techniques like code obfuscation, binary hardening, and input validation gained traction to reduce the attack surface and potential vulnerabilities.

In the 2010s, the growing popularity of smartphones and mobile apps made app stores targets for malicious actors to distribute malware. App hardening then became essential for app developers to protect sensitive user data and prevent unauthorized access to device resources.

Future

Technological developments have significantly impacted app hardening and security measures.

AI and machine learning: Integrating AI into security solutions enhances threat detection and response capabilities. This is helpful because AI-driven security tools can analyze vast amounts of data to identify patterns and anomalies indicative of potential attacks.
Zero-trust environments: These principles advocate for a security model that assumes no trust, even within the perimeter of an organization's network.
Supply chain attacks: Recent supply chain attacks, like the SolarWinds and Kaseya incidents, highlight the risks associated with third-party software dependencies. Securing the software supply chain requires robust app hardening practices.

In recent times, regulatory requirements and industry standards such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), and HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) have also driven the adoption of app hardening practices.