Hacking Mobile Apps

 Hacking Mobile Apps 

If you think like a hacker, you will realize that one of the easiest ways to get into several mobile devices and set up shop in there is to create a mobile app.  

Mobile app hacking is among the fastest ways to infiltrate a mobile device system since it is easy to upload a malicious app online and make it possible for people to download the hack, without even thinking if they should examine their download or not. Mobile apps are also considered as “low-hanging fruit.” Most mobile apps can be directly accessed through their binary codes, or the code that mobile devices need in order to execute the app. That means that that everyone who has their hands on to marketed hacking tools are able to exploit available mobile apps and turn them into hacking tools. Once hackers are able to compromise a mobile app, they will be able to perform the initial compromise within minutes.

 

Here are some ways how hackers exploit binary codes in mobile apps:

    1. Modify the code to modify behavior 

When hackers modify the binary code, they do that to disable the app’s security controls, requirements for purchasing, or prompts for ads to display. When they are able to do that, they can distribute the modified app as a crack, a new application, or a patch  

   2. Inject malicious code 

When hackers are able to get their hands on a binary code, they can inject a malicious code in it and then distribute it as an app update or a patch. Doing this can confuse a user into thinking that he is merely updating the app in his mobile devise, but in reality, the hacker has engineered the user into installing an entirely different app.

  3. Create a rogue app 

Hackers can perform a drive-by attack, which is possible by doing an API/function hooking or swizzling. When this is done, the hacker will be able to successfully compromise the targeted application and make redirecting the traffic or stealing user credentials possible.

  4. Do reverse engineering 

A hacker that has access to a binary code can easily perform a reverse-engineering hack to expose further vulnerabilities, do similar counterfeit apps, or even resubmit it under new branding.