A Dive Into Mobile App Security Practices

The digitization wave, coupled with the rise in smartphone usage, has led to an upsurge in mobile app development. As much as it is serving our conveniences and cater to our requirements, the increasing popularity of mobile apps is also representing a growing area for security risks. Hence, ensuring robust security practices becomes a quintessential factor during the mobile app development phase.

In this blog post, we'll explore some key practices to seal those potential security loopholes in your mobile application. We'll do this using the widely-popular mobile application development platform - React Native.

Integrating SSL/TLS

The underlying protocol used by an application to transport private data across the network can be a cornerstone to its security. As a starting point, when developing a mobile app, incorporating SSL/TLS (Secure Sockets Layer / Transport Layer Security) becomes vital. The following snippet illustrates its implementation in React Native fetch calls.

fetch('https://your-secured-endpoint.com', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    Accept: 'application/json',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    key: 'your value',
  })
})
  .then((response) => response.json())
  .then((json) => console.log(json))
  .catch((error) => console.error(error))
  .done();

Password Hashing

Storing passwords as plain text is a glaring security mishap. One of the top practices for secure password management is password hashing. Let's see how you can implement password hashing in your React Native application using bcrypt:

Step 1: Install bcrypt

npm install bcryptjs --save

Step 2: Implement a hashing function

import bcrypt from 'bcryptjs';

let passwordData = “myAppPassword”;

bcrypt.genSalt(10, function(err, salt) {
  bcrypt.hash(passwordData, salt, function(err, hash) {
      // store the hash value
  });
});

Adopting Principle of Least Privilege (POLP)

POLP is a computing security concept in which a user account or process has the smallest set of privileges necessary to complete its task. Users are provided only the privileges they need, reducing the potential damage caused by a security breach.

In React Native, you can manage user roles and privileges using Firebase’s Firestore security rules.

rules_version = '2';
service cloud.firestore {
  match /databases/{database}/documents {
    match /{document=**} {
      allow read, write: if request.auth.uid != null;
      allow write: if request.auth.token.admin == true;
    }
  }
}

These were just a few practices connected with mobile app security. Remember, security in applications is not an afterthought; rather, it should be integrated into each phase of the app development lifecycle.

As React Native continues to evolve, new security features and practices will undoubtedly emerge, empowering developers to build more secure applications.