Webview Security Breach

On April 3rd of 1973 Motorola was responsible for creating the first cellular device that has lead to the smartphone and mobile application evolution. The first smartphone was designed by IBM and was a clunky personal communicator that needed to be used with a stylist. In 2007, Apple debuted the first touchscreen smartphone which changed the mobile device community and helped contribute to the birth of mobile applications. They had launched the first mobile application store with only 500 apps a year after the first iPhone. As time came, Android released their latest smartphone which broadened the application market. All smartphones enabled users to browse through the internet while using cellular data and/or Wi-Fi, mobile applications changed

Mobile applications have evolved from elementary tasks that the computer is used for like emailing, instant messaging, basic web searches, and other web functions. While surfing the internet and using web applications, software and hardware both withhold security measures to make sure that the user is secure. Because mobile web browsing on both iOS and Android have vulnerabilities, it is easy for code to be injected while certain links withhold malware for an attack. WebView is a security breach that can be used on both Android and iOS to inject that malware into mobile web browsing, and also many mobile applications that are downloadable withhold this vulnerability. Due of the rapid development of mobile applications and the implementation of more Scrum and Agile-like methods to complete mobile applications, security has been a necessity to keep them functional due to the information being dispatched and retrieved. Security was not a key element of focus while mobile applications were in development, but now security has grown into a huge factor and risk to a functional mobile application because of all the data withheld on the mobile device. That data can consist of very important information like credit card information, addresses,

Swaminatha directly addresses the vulnerabilities that wireless networks contain while using mobile applications for e-commerce and other data gathering applications. Mobility has become essential in day to day tasks while using smartphone applications therefore the mechanicals of an application are not to blame for some poor security development. “Rather than an attacker needing to pursue a target, targets can come to attackers in wireless networks simply roaming in through the attacker’s zone” (Ghosh and Swaminatha, 52). Throughout this article, the authors emphasize the usage of wireless devices being hard to trace due to the online/offline ability upon connectivity. This proclaims high security risks to retrieve data wirelessly. The authors bring up an interesting analysis of how to protect data that is searched on a mobile device, but also the data that is saved. They also speak of how important it is to know the wireless network that you are connected to and to take safety precautions of using encrypted communication calls when necessary to avoid high risks for attacks. This article is relevant to the evolution of mobile application security because jumping from wireless network to network can cause vulnerabilities in mobile applications and hold mobile devices open for