Strandhogg is a very serious Android vulnerability that will allow malicious applications to hijack legitimate applications and the users into providing sensitive information like login credentials and financial details. This particular problem will target the android multitasking functionality and allow the malicious application to pose like a legitimate one which for the lead leads to significant issues in the long run. To protect mobile applications from the problem of Strandhogg and improve overall security, the following are some of the important tips to be paid attention to:
- Keeping the operating system and application applications up-to-date: One of the simplest opportunities for preventing mobile applications from Strandhogg is to regularly update the applications and operating systems. Updates in this particular case will include the security patches that will be fixing the challenges exploited by the Strandhogg and enabling the automatic update on the Android device is very much important in this case. Further, it is very important for people to ensure that security patches are perfectly installed and further usage of the SDK as well as security libraries is very important in the world of application development. Remaining up to date will be always helpful in making sure that people will be able to eliminate the weaknesses very easily and further, there will be no scope for any kind of exploitation.
- Implementing strong application permission control: Strandhogg will be definitely helpful in providing people with the best level of support in the task management system of Android which will allow malicious applications to request excessive permissions without any further issues. To prevent this particular system, it is very important for people to have a good understanding of the implementation of the runtime permissions instead of granting the permissions at installation and the regular audit is also very important so that application usage will be permitted and remove the unnecessary ones will be easily done. Educating the users about the denial of permission is also very important so that suspicious points will be easily eliminated and people will be able to deal with the risk of unauthorized data accessibility without any problem.
- Detecting and preventing the task hijacking: Since Strandhogg will be very well dependent on the concept of hijacking, the application should always focus on implementing measures to detect and prevent unauthorized accessibility and activity. Using the flag secure system is very important in the whole process so that screen overlay attacks will be prevented and further dictating the activities to detect any kind of unauthorized activities switching is also very important. Restricting your application from running into single task mode is also very important and further implementing the application in integrity check is definitely advisable throughout the process so that checking these changes into the application behavior will be very well done. By monitoring the application behavior everyone will be able to have a clear idea about the reduction of these suspicious activities before it will lead to the security breach.
- Implementing the multifactor authentication: Even if Strandhogg is tracking the users into entering the login credentials, multifactor authentication will add an extra layer of security to prevent unauthorized accessibility. Using two-factor authentication and implementing the one-time password for the login verification is very important for people so that things are very well sorted out. It is also important for people to avoid SMS-related authentication because it can be intercepted and using the authenticator applications in this particular case is important to make sure that there is no scope for any kind of stealing of credentials.
- Educating the users: Strandhogg will happen when the users are unknowingly installing malicious applications from untrusted sources. So, educating the users and downloading the applications only from the official store is important so that third-party APKs and unofficial websites can be easily avoided throughout the process. Further checking out the application permission and review before the installation is also very important so that everything will be correctly done without any problem.
- Monitoring the application behavior with security analytics: Using security monitoring to help in detecting the anomalies in the application behavior is always very important and for this using the threat detection systems to monitor the real-time threats is very important for people so that analytical support will be there. Regular review of the security for this suspicious intent changes is also very important so the detection will be very well promoted and quick response will be there before the attack causes the damage.
- Implementing the secured session management: Strandhogg will be tracking the users into logging in to malicious applications that further lead to the session hijacking further the secured session management will be always helpful in preventing unauthorized access accessibility so that implementation of the short session timeouts will be done to reduce the exposure. Using token-related authentication is also very important for people so that session expiration will be automatically sorted out and suspicious behavior will be easily detected without any problem. Using the security of the user session will be helpful in preventing the attacks very easily and helps in maintaining long-term access.
- Reporting removing the malicious applications: If you suspect any kind of malicious application that is using the Strandhogg, it is vital for people to report it to the Google Play Store so that it can be appropriately and immediately removed and further regularly checking for the fake version of the application is important for people on the third-party web store. Taking action on time will be definitely helpful in providing people with the best possible element of support and also will protect the user community on an overall basis.
Apart from the points mentioned above, remaining in touch with the experts at Appsealing can also be considered a very good idea for the people so that everybody will be able to incorporate the protection very easily and further will be able to get rid of the problems like Strandhogg by mitigating the risks and improving the application security very easily.
