App security has been highlighted in the news for a while now. Various cases of hacked apps and released passwords have increased the world’s awareness of the growing threat to apps – hacking.

Sure, hacking has been around for a long time, but with more personal data being stored in mobile phones, and the lackluster securities that app developers have been taking with their apps, it is high-time we start looking into improving the app security.

The first step, is looking at the various mistakes the developers tend to make in terms of app security.

The first and biggest mistake that most developers tend to forget is actually securing an app. With most app development projects, security seems to be one of the lesser priorities of the team. For a while, it has been treated as a negligible aspect of app development, simply because they feel that they won’t have to take responsibility for it unless something goes wrong – and people start to leave.

If you want your app to continue to grow strong, there must be some initiative to improve your app security, especially the user’s data. Many apps these days fail to handle data security properly. Data should only be stored in the local drives of the device only when needed. Even then the data should be encrypted. Speaking of encryption, one should always encrypt not only local but also cloud data for better security.

Another common mistake of developers is forgetting to clean up their code. One particular part of the code being left behind is the comment lines. The comment lines could be used to help a hacker decipher what they can do to mess with the app and its code. As such, if any communication will be left in the app, it must go through the process of Obfuscation to prevent hackers from understanding too much.

One major mistake that developers tend to have is having too much permission. While the numbers of people being aware of the dangers of certain permissions are growing, there is still large number of users who do not know any better. Developers should not be lazy and include all manner of permissions for their app, especially if it has nothing to do with the necessary functions of the app. Keep things simple and review the permissions you need, and let go of the rest. Your users will thank you for it.

Remember that app security is everyone’s concern. Both developers and users must stay vigilant and avoid common and avoidable security errors.