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 (12 chapters)
11
Index

Terminology

Let us start off with an understanding of some terms that are used in cryptography. As we progress through the chapter, these terms will be repeatedly used, so it is important to become familiar with them before we proceed.

  • Cryptography: Cryptography is the study and practice of secure communication in an insecure environment and in the presence of adversaries. As our lives become more digitalized and connected, cryptography has gained increasing importance. Cryptography is practised in the form of algorithms and protocols that are designed using mathematical formulae and problems that are computationally hard.
  • Plaintext: Also called cleartext, plaintext is the message that a sender wants to transmit and that needs to be kept a secret. If Alice wants to send a message "Hello World" to Bob, then "Hello World" is the plaintext.
  • Ciphertext: Also called codetext, this is the encoded or encrypted message of plaintext that is sent to the receiver. Let us follow the...