Enhance your understanding of secure mobile application development with this quiz focused on secure coding practices for Android and iOS. Discover key strategies to safeguard apps from common vulnerabilities and data breaches while strengthening your foundational knowledge of safe app design.
Which method is recommended for securely storing sensitive user data on Android or iOS devices?
Explanation: Utilizing secure storage options such as the Keystore on Android or Keychain on iOS helps protect sensitive data with system-level encryption. Saving data as plain text or in shared storage exposes it to unauthorized access, increasing security risks. Hardcoding sensitive information in source code makes it vulnerable to reverse engineering. App cache is not designed for long-term secure storage and can be cleared or accessed by other apps in some cases.
Which practice best helps prevent unauthorized access to a mobile app’s sensitive features?
Explanation: Authentication and authorization checks are essential to ensure that only permitted users can access sensitive features or data. Simply hiding buttons does not prevent attacks through unintended entry points. Disabling logging is unrelated to access control and can hinder debugging. Trusting only the device's lock screen ignores the need for strong app-level security controls.
What is the most secure way to transmit sensitive data between a mobile app and a server?
Explanation: HTTPS secures data in transit by encrypting it and validating the server’s certificate, which helps prevent eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks. Standard HTTP connections offer no encryption, while simple base64 encoding is not secure and can be easily decoded. Sending plain text over FTP is highly insecure and exposes data to interception.
Why should developers avoid hardcoding sensitive information such as API keys in mobile application source code?
Explanation: Hardcoded credentials are vulnerable because anyone with access to the application file can reverse engineer and extract them. This does not relate to the app's performance or stability, so speed and crash frequency are unrelated. Credentials are not automatically encrypted just by being in the code; they require explicit protective measures.
What is a safe way to handle user input when interacting with an app's local database?
Explanation: Parameterized queries separate code from data, effectively preventing SQL injection. Concatenating user input into SQL commands is unsafe and exposes the app to injection attacks. Simply adding single quotes does not guard against crafted inputs. Trusting the source device’s input is insufficient since devices can be compromised.
Which is the most secure approach when requesting permissions for mobile apps?
Explanation: Requesting only required permissions limits the risk in case of security breaches and respects user privacy. Requesting unnecessary permissions broadens the attack surface and may violate platform guidelines. Automatically granting permissions weakens security controls. Bundling unrelated permissions can confuse users and make them less likely to trust the app.
What is an effective measure to protect mobile app source code from reverse engineering?
Explanation: Code obfuscation makes it more difficult for attackers to analyze or understand the binary, helping to protect intellectual property and logic. Publishing the source publicly offers no protection. User interface colors are unrelated to code security. Saving code in external storage can actually increase exposure to attacks.
What should developers avoid including in error messages shown to users when an app encounters an exception?
Explanation: Showing stack traces or system details can expose internal logic or vulnerabilities to attackers. General error notices, retry suggestions, and basic support guidance do not leak sensitive technical information, making them safer for end-users. Error messages should be informative but not overly technical to prevent accidental information disclosure.
When your app downloads files or data from remote sources, what should you check to protect users from malicious content?
Explanation: Validating and sanitizing ensures that data or files do not compromise the app or device, such as by executing unwanted code. Trusting files based on popularity is not reliable, and ignoring file extensions can result in unsafe file handling. Allowing all file types without checks opens the door to security threats.
What is an important security step when using third-party libraries in your mobile app?
Explanation: Regularly updating libraries and reviewing their security status helps avoid known vulnerabilities and ensures safer integration. Copying library code without inspection can bring in hidden risks. Ignoring security warnings is unsafe and can lead to exploitable issues. Disabling essential permissions could break features and is not a substitute for securing libraries themselves.