Approov Blog

MitM Attack

With a global AI race underway, mobile app security is not optional - it’s a necessity. A recent security audit of the DeepSeek iOS application revealed significant vulnerabilities that put user data at risk. These weaknesses, including unencrypted data transmission, insecure cryptographic practices, and disabled security mechanisms, have exposed users to potential data breaches and cyberattacks. Read Full Story

Man-in-the-middle (MitM) attacks occur when an attacker intercepts or manipulates mobile device communications to gain access to sensitive information. Attackers can extract login information, API keys and useful credentials from messages and can modify messages and intercept sensitive commercial or personal data, or even easily launch a denial of service attack against the service being accessed via a mobile app. Read Full Story

This overview outlines the development and adoption of Huawei HarmonyOS and the associated security solution Safety Detect, highlighting some limitations with the approach. As regulations such as the EU DMA force the use of alternative app stores, the dependence of Huawei security features on the use of the Huawei AppGallery app store and ecosystem will also prove to be problematic for developers. We also compare and contrast Huawei HarmonyOS Safety Detect with the comprehensive mobile security offered by Approov. Read Full Story

This is the final article in a guest blog series from Intellyx. Find the full series here. A “man in the middle” (MitM) attack is one of the most serious types of attacks on the Internet. An MitM attack has the capability to divert or copy an entire flow of messages and steal login credentials, bank account numbers, credit card numbers, social security numbers, and generate denial of service attacks. Read Full Story

This overview outlines the history and use of Google Play Integrity API and highlights some limitations. We also compare and contrast Google Play Integrity API with the comprehensive mobile security offered by Approov. The imminent deprecation of Google SafetyNet Attestation API means this is a good time for a comprehensive evaluation of solutions in this space. Read Full Story

The last year has not been great for crypto. Most crypto currencies, including Bitcoin, experienced significant loss of value, and we saw high profile exchanges like FTX collapse. In addition, hackers were actively stealing crypto currency. The blockchain company Chainalysis calculated that $3.8bn was stolen by hackers in 2022. Read Full Story

In a previous article, we saw how to use code obfuscation to make it more difficult for an attacker to extract a secret through static binary analysis of the ChatGPT demo mobile app. However, it's important to note that code obfuscation is not always as effective in protecting secrets as we might hope. It can give a false sense of security, similar to the Maginot Line that the French built during World War II to deter the German invasion of France. As many know, the German military simply went around the Maginot Line and quickly invaded France, rendering it useless. This event is now often used as an analogy for situations where something provides a false sense of security rather than actual security. Read Full Story

"Bank-grade security" is a term often used to describe a high level of security measures implemented in mobile applications to protect sensitive data, transactions, and user privacy. It implies that the app's security measures are at par with or comparable to the security standards employed by financial institutions, such as banks, which are known for their rigorous security practices. In this post, we will examine what is meant by this term and whether or not you should be comforted by it. Read Full Story

Runtime Application Self-Protection (RASP) is a security technology that is designed to protect applications from attacks while the application is running. It works by embedding a security mechanism directly into the application, which allows it to monitor the application's behavior and detect and prevent malicious activities in real-time. Read Full Story

This is our second blog highlighting the results of the Approov Threat Lab Report. Read Full Story