Mobile security baseline checklist

hard

Learn with your AI

Open this lesson in your favourite AI. It'll walk you through the why, explain the demo, and quiz you on the try-it list.

Open in Claude Open in ChatGPT

Why this matters

Across iOS and Android, the same baseline applies: codesigning enforced (Play Integrity / iOS sandbox), keychain-backed secrets, certificate pinning, no debugging in release builds, encrypted local storage, biometric gating for sensitive actions, root/jailbreak detection (signal, not gate), and an MDM strategy for enterprise distribution.

Demo

Production checklist: (1) all secrets in Keychain/Keystore; (2) TLS pinning; (3) ProGuard/R8 + iOS bitcode obfuscation; (4) Play Integrity / DeviceCheck for backend; (5) biometric for sensitive flows; (6) no logs of PII; (7) re-encrypt-on-reboot via Secure Enclave / StrongBox; (8) MDM-friendly entitlements / manifest.

Try it yourself

Audit a real mobile app you have access to against this baseline. Document gaps.
Pick three gaps; fix them.
Test the result against OWASP MASTG checklist.

Prompt your AI

Use these three in order. Each builds on the one before.

1. Basics & terminology

In one paragraph, list a mobile security baseline.

2. Why it works (the mechanism)

Walk me through implementing one baseline item (cert pinning, biometric gating, etc.).

3. Advanced — application & what's next

Plan a mobile-security audit cadence for a SaaS with iOS + Android.