Apps are Life

We live our lives on smartphones. We use mobile apps to pay our bills, buy concert tickets, keep tabs on our credit, monitor how many steps we take in a single day and essentially use our smartphones as a life archive of all things personal. For many people, cell phones are now a substitute for carrying a purse or wallet. With the prevalence of smartphone usage and the apps in which we embed our lives, our phones are now tiny pocket vaults of info we want to keep secure and private at all times. Every mobile app we download becomes an abridged version of personal, sensitive info that could potentially open up each person or entity to a data breach or security vulnerabilities. It makes sense we should be considering mobile app security as users and developers.

Consider Mobile App Security Every Step of Development

This begets a larger conversation for mobile app development shops or custom software firms that specialize in mobile app development. When does it become crucial to consider security when developing a brand-spanking new mobile app? The answer is this. You must consider the importance of security as early as the ideation cycle, during all dev sprints, and through completion of the app. And just when you think you’ve thought about security too much, you must also incorporate those security considerations during quality assurance testing and finally through launch.

Cybercriminals love targeting unsecured mobile apps. These types of apps create vulnerability portals to personal info. When it comes to user experience, once an app breach has happened, the user loses trust in the app and usage comes to a screeching halt. Long-term repercussions can result in users throwing out their smartphones all together and reaching for that old Nokia brick just for added comfort.

Increase your Security Expertise

So let’s talk mobile app security, so people don’t have to go back to their monophonic ringtones.

It was mentioned before that mobile app security is paramount and should be considered in the earliest stages of ideation and through every step of development. Here are also some great tips, resources and guides when considering security while developing mobile apps.

• Stay at the forefront of mobile app security and all things related to cybersecurity. This blog on general information security is a robust source of the latest news, insights, topical discussions about innovations in cybersecurity.
• Visit Upwork’s 8 Tips for Better Mobile App Security for a thorough breakdown of pointers from start to finish, with bonus advice for app users.
• Equip yourself by learning more about the Top Five Mobile Application Vulnerabilities from TechTarget.
• Notate 8 Important Steps to Secure Your Mobile App from Testbytes, which provides another great checklist for devs.
• Watch this video by IBM about Secure Mobile App Development. Senior Product Manager, Tom Mulvehill, delivers insights on mobile app security.

These tips are helpful for developers or anybody currently working on their next big idea for an app. All of these points should be top-of-mind during the ideating process and as you work with a custom software shop to build your mobile application. User experience is everything; once that trust has been breached, there could be serious blowback. We want you and your fresh new mobile application to live securely (h)appily ever after.

Call Us for Help

If you’re currently working on an idea for a mobile app and have a concern or question about security and mobile app vulnerabilities, give us a call. Shift3 Technologies can help you from the ground up. Email [email protected] or call 559 560 3300 today for a free, 30-minute consultation. Prepare for your call with this handy dandy guide.

Source: I Programmer

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