Mobile App Security: Best Practices for Business Apps

Business apps handle logins, personal data, payments and access to internal systems. A single vulnerability can expose customers and damage trust. Security must be designed in from the first sprint.

Follow a recognised standard

The OWASP Mobile Application Security Verification Standard (MASVS) provides a widely used checklist for secure mobile development and testing.

Protect data on the device

• Store as little sensitive data on the device as possible.
• Use the platform's secure storage for tokens and keys.
• Avoid logging personal or sensitive information.

Secure communication

• Use HTTPS for every request with modern TLS.
• Consider certificate pinning for high-risk apps.
• Never embed secret API keys in the app package.

Strong authentication

• Support biometric login backed by secure tokens.
• Use short-lived access tokens with refresh tokens.
• Offer multi-factor authentication for sensitive actions.

Harden the back end

Most mobile breaches happen through the APIs behind the app. Validate every request on the server, enforce authorisation for each record, apply rate limits and monitor for unusual activity.

Test continuously

• Static and dynamic security testing in the build pipeline.
• Independent penetration testing before major releases.
• Prompt updates for third-party libraries.

Security is an ongoing commitment. Plan budget and time for regular reviews and updates throughout the life of the app.