Book Image

Android Application Security Essentials

By : Pragati Rai
Book Image

Android Application Security Essentials

By: Pragati Rai

Overview of this book

In today's techno-savvy world, more and more parts of our lives are going digital, and all this information is accessible anytime and anywhere using mobile devices. It is of the utmost importance that you understand and implement security in your apps that will reduce the likelihood of hazards that will wreck your users' experience. "Android Application Security Essentials" takes a deep look into Android security from kernel to the application level, with practical hands-on examples, illustrations, and everyday use cases. This book will show you how to overcome the challenge of getting the security of your applications right. "Android Application Security Essentials" will show you how to secure your Android applications and data. It will equip you with tricks and tips that will come in handy as you develop your applications.We will start by learning the overall security architecture of the Android stack. Securing components with permissions, defining security in a manifest file, cryptographic algorithms and protocols on the Android stack, secure storage, security focused testing, and protecting enterprise data on your device is then also discussed in detail. You will also learn how to be security-aware when integrating newer technologies like NFC and mobile payments into your Android applications. At the end of this book, you will understand Android security at the system level all the way to the nitty-gritty details of application security for securing your Android applications.
Table of Contents (18 chapters)
Android Application Security Essentials
Credits
Foreword
About the Author
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Installing an application on an external storage


As we have discussed in Chapter 4, Defining the Application's Policy File, starting with API level 8, applications can choose to be installed on the SD card. Once the APK is moved to external storage, the only memory taken up by the app is private data of applications stored on the internal memory. It is important to note that even for SD card resident APKs, the DEX (Dalvik Executable) files, private data directories, and native shared libraries remain on the internal storage.

Adding an optional attribute in the manifest file enables this feature. The Application Info screen for such an application either has a Move to SD card or Move to Phone button, depending on the current storage location of APK. The user then has an option to move the APK file accordingly. If the external device is un-mounted or the USB mode is set to Mass Storage (where the device is used as a disk drive), all the running Activities and Services hosted on that external...