A Buyers Guide to Mobile Application Security

THE PRINCIPLES

Mobile applications have become the primary channel for banking, payments, and identity services.

This shift has also created new attack surfaces: reverse engineering, runtime tampering, credential theft, and fraud via compromised devices.

For regulated institutions, securing the backend is not enough.

The application itself - and the mobile session - must be protected with layered, adaptive controls that evolve as quickly as the threat landscape.

This guide provides a framework for evaluating mobile application security solutions. It outlines:

Market drives
Buyer challenges
Evaluation criteria
How Cryptomathic’s Mobile Application Security Core Solution (MASC) addresses these needs in regulated environments

MOBILE-FIRST DELIVERY

Consumers expect full banking, payments, and eID services on mobile - often across multiple apps - making the mobile channel business-critical.

INCREASED FRAUD ACTIVITY

Attackers use rooting, overlays, hooking frameworks, and malware to exploit apps. Many root and jailbreak techniques can evade traditional or static controls.

PLATFORM & DEVICE FRAGMENTATION

Banks and payment providers must protect diverse device populations. Controls must remain effective across OS versions, device models, and manufacturer customizations - including scenarios with prolonged offline use.

COMPLIANCE PRESSURE & AUDIT EXPECTATIONS

Frameworks such as PSD2 SCA, PCI DSS, PCI MPoC, DORA, and NIS2 demand robust app-level and transaction-level protection - supported by governance, risk management, and evidence of control effectiveness. Institutions must be able to demonstrate how controls operate in practice and how to maintain them over time.

AGILE DELIVERY & MODERNIZATION

DevOps teams must release frequently without compromising security or compliance. In parallel, organizations are modernizing authentication (for examplÅe, moving from SMS OTP to biometrics), migrating mobile frameworks, and rationalizing legacy apps. Security must keep pace without becoming a maintenance bottleneck.

Layered runtime defenses, including debugger blocking, root/jailbreak detection, emulator detection, and hooking/overlay detection.
Integrity verification against tampering, instrumentation, and reverse engineering - including protection of code and configuration.
Behavioral indicators of malware and advanced rooting techniques, with policies designed to reduce false positives and support good user experience.

Policy-based enforcement with minimal code changes, enabling security teams to adjust controls without re-implementing business logic.
Rapid updates in response to emerging threats, new OS versions, and regulatory changes.
Built-in testing and validation so changes can be verified safely before broad rollout.

Multi-layer protection for keys, tokens, credentials, and sensitive libraries - remaining effective even on compromised devices.
White-box cryptography and hardware-backed keystores where available

Support for major app development frameworks (Java, Kotlin, Swift, React Native, Flutter, Xamarin) with consistent policy semantics.
Coverage across Android and iOS, with controls that adapt to device capabilities while maintaining a baseline level of protection.
Backend assurance for attestation, telemetry, and policy enforcement - integrated with existing identity systems, fraud/risk engines, and API gateways.

Mappings to OWASP MASVS, ENISA Mobile App Security guidance, and PCI MPoC requirements.
Demonstrated control coverage for PSD2 SCA, PCI DSS, DORA, and NIS2 - with the ability to generate evidence and reports aligned to audit needs.
Support for governance processes, including role-based access to policies and an auditable change history.

Secure storage of tokens and cookies, gated by biometrics or PIN.
Support for asymmetric key creation and transaction signing.

CRYPTOMATHIC MASC STRENGTHS

Cryptomathic MASC (Mobile Application Security Core) is designed to meet the criteria above. Its strengths include:

SELECTING THE RIGHT MOBILE APPLICATION SECURITY SOLUTION