TL;DR
Connecting your app to sensitive information requires careful planning and implementation. This guide focuses on secure data storage, robust authentication, encrypted communication, regular security testing, and adherence to relevant regulations.
1. Data Storage Security
- Encryption at Rest: Never store sensitive data in plain text. Use strong encryption algorithms (e.g., AES-256) to encrypt the data before storing it on the device or server.
# Example using Python cryptography library - Secure Key Management: Protect your encryption keys! Don’t hardcode them into the app. Use secure key storage mechanisms provided by the operating system (e.g., Android Keystore, iOS Keychain).
# Example using Android Keystore - Database Security: If using a database, ensure it’s properly configured with access controls and encryption.
- Data Minimisation: Only store the data you absolutely need. The less sensitive data you hold, the lower your risk.
2. Authentication & Authorisation
- Strong Password Policies: Enforce strong password requirements (length, complexity, etc.). Consider multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- Secure Login Process: Use established authentication protocols like OAuth 2.0 or OpenID Connect.
# Example using OAuth 2.0 flow - Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Implement RBAC to restrict access to sensitive data based on user roles and permissions.
- Session Management: Securely manage user sessions with appropriate timeouts and invalidation mechanisms. Prevent session hijacking.
3. Communication Security
- HTTPS/TLS: Always use HTTPS (TLS) for all communication between the app and your server to encrypt data in transit.
# Ensure your API endpoints are served over HTTPS - Certificate Pinning: Implement certificate pinning to prevent man-in-the-middle attacks. Verify that the server’s SSL certificate is trusted.
- API Security: Protect your APIs with authentication tokens, rate limiting, and input validation.
4. Regular Security Testing
- Static Code Analysis: Use static code analysis tools to identify potential vulnerabilities in your app’s source code.
- Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST): Perform DAST to test the running application for security flaws.
- Penetration Testing: Engage a professional penetration tester to simulate real-world attacks and identify vulnerabilities.
- Vulnerability Scanning: Regularly scan your server infrastructure for known vulnerabilities.
5. Compliance & Regulations
- Data Protection Laws: Understand and comply with relevant data protection laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA).
- Industry Standards: Follow industry best practices and security standards (e.g., OWASP Mobile Security Project).
- Regular Updates: Keep your app’s dependencies and libraries up to date with the latest security patches.
6. Cyber security Best Practices
- Input Validation: Validate all user input on both the client-side and server-side to prevent injection attacks (e.g., SQL injection, cross-site scripting).
- Output Encoding: Encode output data to prevent cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities.
- Logging & Monitoring: Implement comprehensive logging and monitoring to detect and respond to security incidents.