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iOS App Penetration Testing

3 minutes

By Hacken

After endless rounds of prototyping, you might think that your iOS app is finally ready to be taken off the ground to start creating optimal user experiences. What about vulnerabilities? Whatever it takes, you need to make sure that no bad actor will be able to harvest user-sensitive data through your app.

Have your iOS developers covered everything from A to Z so that your app is safe to use? Only rigorous iOS app penetration testing will give you the answer to this question. 

What Does Pentesting iOS Applications Mean?

In simple terms, iOS app penetration testing can be compared to checking whether your doors are resistant to a professional burglar. It’s always done from the hacker’s perspective. Pentesting iOS applications involves emulating similar techniques bad guys use to see what they can do using your mobile app. 

iOS App Penetration Testing Guidelines

Make A Plan

Come up with an elaborate plan. To succeed in performing an effective iOS app penetration test, you should stick to the battle-tested methodology as to how you intend to accomplish it. Since each iOS app environment differs from one another, pay special attention to outlining the parameters that need to be tested. 

According to OWASP, the major weaknesses of mobile apps identified during pentesting are usually weak server-side security, faulty storage systems, low-strength encryption, undetected data leakage, lax user validation, broken cryptography, client-side injection (SSL, XSS, JS, etc.), and no binary-level protections.

Choose Tools

Select cutting-edge iOS app pentesting tools based on the environment. Some of the most popular tools that might facilitate the iOS app pentest: Cydia Impactor, SQLMap, OWASP ZAP, Frida-ios-dump, Apktool, iWep Pro, Appcrack, Burp Suite, and netKillUIbeta.

Prepare Environment

Get everything ready for the pentesting environment. Carefully think about your iOS app pentesting environment. Any security assessment of an iOS app requires jailbreaking the device to get access to its filesystem and bypass security restrictions.

Test App Servers

Test the app server(s). Launch attacks on the app server to check for any unauthorized file uploads, open redirecting, vulnerabilities in the auth mechanisms, CORS, etc.

Attack Networks

Analyze network connectivity aspects in a series of network attacks. You can take advantage of network sniffers that allow users to collect valuable info about the network traffic and data packets.

Locate The Unkowns

Instrument the source. Create backdoors to examine the code on a granular level to identify any unknowns that might turn out to be security woes.

Follow The Plan

Conduct the pentest step-by-step, sticking to your plan. Always assume that the app you’re pentesting is full of errors never to miss a thing along the way. Avoid trying to speed up the pentesting process if it involves bypassing a step or two. 

Why choose Hacken

Did you know that it takes at least 10,000 hours of practice to be genuinely exceptional at something? You can rest assured that Hacken experts have spent years improving their iOS app pentesting skills and can’t be called jacks-of-all-trades. If your app does have any security flaws, our iOS pen testers will be able to identify them, helping you finally push the snowball off the mountain peak.

Once the safety of your iOS app has been confirmed during iOS app pentesting, users won’t have to worry that their data might get compromised. The investors will be confident that the iOS app they are about to launch isn’t going to damage their reputation and is worth investing in.

Request Professional iOS App Penetration Testing Today!

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Table of contents

  • →What Does Pentesting iOS Applications Mean?
  • →iOS App Penetration Testing Guidelines
  • →Why choose Hacken

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