As per research by Gartner, over 75% of mobile applications will fail basic security tests, through 2015, whether it’s for iOS, Android or Windows Phone ecosystems. Enterprise mobile applications are exposed to violations and attacks of its security policies. When enterprise employees download these apps, they risk using not-so-secure applications.
Dionisio Zumerle, principal research analyst at Gartner says, ‘Enterprises embracing mobile computing and BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies are vulnerable to security breaches. Unless, enterprises switch to methods for mobile application security testing and risk assurance.
Dionisio further states that most enterprises are inexperienced in mobile application security. App developers mostly focus on offering good features than tight security in their enterprise applications.
Let’s take a quick look at the 3 major reasons why enterprise mobile apps fail?
Security
Relating back to what Gartner says. Mr. Zumerle explains that existing static app security testing (SAST) and dynamic app security testing (DAST) will need to modify and adjust its tests to address mobile technologies. DAST and SAST are in use since the past decade. However, mobile apps owing to their variety and dependability, on continually evolving mobile operating systems, are a new challenge.
Gartner thinks that, in addition to DAST and SAST, new kinds of tests based on behavioural analysis are evolving for mobile devices. Tests monitor running background apps and its GUI, in order to detect malicious or risky behaviour. For instance, a music player application that accesses contact lists or geo-location can be suspicious.
Adoption
For an enterprise mobile app strategy to succeed, it must be adopted across departments, in an organization. Failure to do so may lead to confusion and unnecessary delays and flaws, cropping up in the app. Many a times, it has been found that mobile strategies do not earn the needed support from the organization, in terms of funds, infrastructure and creativity, resulting in poor app development.
IT World’s Andrew Brooks says that 35% think that the CEO plays an active role in developing the mobile strategy. 87% of surveyed participants said they had a formal mobility strategy, which is a lot better than 58% of last year’s survey conducted.
Creativity
Never stick to just one tool for your enterprise mobile app development. With a multitude of choices in native, hybrid and cross-platform development, you will never run out of options. Every app development project brings in new challenges fresh approaches catered to different platforms. Initially, it may be hard but take time to pick a combination of tools and languages to give a unique flavour, to your app.
Further on, you can gather as much information as you can about your enterprise app. Record, analyze and report this data at regular intervals, to refine the app development process. A research done well gives insights into current running versions and removes latent bottlenecks, all this in a short time, making way for a stable app.
Food for Thought
Gartner predicts that through 2017, 75% of mobile security breaches will be due to mobile app misconfiguration and less of technical attacks on mobile.
Enterprises must figure out where does mobile actually fit into their overall digital strategy? How can they offer differing app solutions to demanding users and businesses, alike? What is the criteria for success of their enterprise app and how will they analyze it?
