Recently I did a talk at OWASP Twin Cities on building a mobile app security toolchain. The talk went pretty well, lots of good questions. One takeaway, there are many people in many different kinds of companies struggling with how to do Mobile App Sec. The room was sold out, and so it looks like the OWASP Chapter is organizing a repeat talk some time this month, so if you missed it and want to come, stay tuned.
The basics of the talk are around what does an end to end process look like for Mobile AppSec, what tools are involved, and what dragons are lurking along the way? For the three day training that Ken and I do the second and third days are focused on hands on iOS and Android security issues. The first day is focused on a number of issues like how to fix your back end for mobile, what identity protocols might be used, what new use cases and risks does mobile present, and threat modeling for mobile.
One thing that I have seen is that many mobile projects are outsourced, both development and vulnerability assessment work. Of course, companies outsource lots of things these days, but I would say its more pronounced with Mobile. In part this may be due to a small skillset of mobile talent. And maybe also companies figuring out if mobile is a fad that will go away or if they really need to build out a team. To me, the answers for most companies are - mobile is not going away, build your team, seed it with the right mix of folks and train them.
There's another variable at play here. Outsourcing is fine as far as it goes, but its only as good as your ability to select and target the right consulting firms, teams, and work direction. For mobile vulnerability assessment in particular it can be a real hodge podge, some tools and services left over from the webapp security days (do you still need them? yes, but you need others too), many things that apply on one platform but not on another, and a brand new set of use cases for mobile. In all, its a bit like going to dim sum, things whizz by and you point at something you sort of recognize, only after eating do you know if the choice was any good (ok, but who doesn't like pork belly buns though?).
The full three day class is for hands on developers and security people, we talked about making it only for them, but decided to leave the one day option because there are many design, architecture and other issues that extend to other parts of the organization. Whether directing an internal team or brining in a consulting team, education is important to make more informed decisions. One thing we work to build in the training on day one is to make sure people are educated buyers.The mobile app security process and results should not be a surprise. Don't just point at a menu of services, instead learn to identify what tools and services are most vital to your project, and focus on those.
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Three days of iOS and Android AppSec geekery with Gunnar Peterson and Ken van Wyk - Training dates NYC April 29-May 1
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