Everything You need to know about Extraneous Functionality App

 If you pick up your phone or a device used by your friends or family members, you will likely come across an array of applications. Recent years have witnessed exponential growth in the utilization of apps. From booking cabs to buying groceries everything can be done through an app. As people find it increasingly convenient to use apps for daily activities, their prevalence also keeps growing. However, with this prevalence, the vulnerabilities related to mobile applications have also increased tenfold. The Owasp mobile top 10 is a list of the top ten security risks that have been curated by app experts around the world. 

 

Everything You need to know about Extraneous Functionality App 

 

This list can be used by app developers around the world to ensure that their app is protected against these risks. Thus, when your app is being developed, make sure that these risks are taken into consideration. Mobile app security is one aspect that you should pay keen attention to. Whether you are a huge corporation or you are a small business just starting out, an app can revolutionize the way your business operates and the way you interact with your current and prospective customers. However, if your app is not secure enough, it will not gain the trust of its target audience. Hence, having an understanding of the security landscape can be immensely helpful. 

 

Prior to the production of an app, the developer or the development team often keeps code which makes it much easier to have access to the backend server. This code also enables them to create logs so that errors can be analyzed. This also carries the staging as well as testing information. Thus, this code is pretty much extraneous when it comes to the functioning of the application. There is no purpose for this code once the app is launched and it is only required during the development cycle. Thus, extraneous functionality is ranked tenth on the Owasp mobile top 10 list.

 

Extraneous Functionality Risks 

 

Generally, a benign code has no extra advantage to offer even if an attacker gains access to it. However, in very specific cases, the code can provide them with information related to user details, databases, API endpoints, user permissions, etc. They can also disable certain functionalities, for instance, two-factor authentication. 

 

Tips to Avoid Extraneous Functionality Risks 

 

Automated tools are usually not enough for detecting M10 risks. Robust app security usually requires manual intervention before the apps get launched on the app stores. The following steps should be taken by the developers before the release of the app: 

1. No test code should be present in the final product 
2. Make sure that there are no hidden switches present in the configuration settings 
3. Any descriptions of the processes of the backend server should not be present in the logs
4. OEMs should not have access to the logs of the full system 
5. Any adversary should not be able to change the app’s debug flag to true 

 

Conclusion 

Certain security solutions are capable of protecting applications against all the 10 app security risks present on the list. Businesses should utilize these solutions to provide an extra layer of security to their apps. You don’t want your business to be associated with terms such as ‘data breach’ or ‘loss of sensitive data’. After all, the reputation of your business is highly dependent on your app.