Book Image

Learning iOS Penetration Testing

By : Yermalkar
Book Image

Learning iOS Penetration Testing

By: Yermalkar

Overview of this book

iOS has become one of the most popular mobile operating systems with more than 1.4 million apps available in the iOS App Store. Some security weaknesses in any of these applications or on the system could mean that an attacker can get access to the device and retrieve sensitive information. This book will show you how to conduct a wide range of penetration tests on iOS devices to uncover vulnerabilities and strengthen the system from attacks. Learning iOS Penetration Testing discusses the common vulnerabilities and security-related shortcomings in an iOS application and operating system, and will teach you to conduct static and dynamic analysis of iOS applications. This practical guide will help you uncover vulnerabilities in iOS phones and applications. We begin with basics of iOS security and dig deep to learn about traffic analysis, code analysis, and various other techniques. Later, we discuss the various utilities, and the process of reversing and auditing.
Table of Contents (11 chapters)
10
Index

iOS application signing

The following is the overall process about how Apple publishes an iOS app on App Store:

  • All applications running on iDevice are signed by Apple
  • The developer signs the apps and submits application to Apple
  • Apple verifies it (performs some rudimentary checks, not vulnerability assessment of app)
  • If app meets with Apple requirements, Apple signs the application
  • Finally the app is available on Apple App Store

Apple's process of checking iOS apps before signing the application is not transparent. Case studies show that Apple does not perform thorough vulnerability assessment of any app. As shown in the following figure, iOS kernel loads applications signed by Apple:

iOS application signing