How to Enforce Strong ECC Signature in Android Apps Using AI
This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Enforce Strong ECC Signature in Android apps.
What Are Strong ECC Signatures?
An ECC (Elliptic Curve Cryptography) Signature is a cryptographic method used to ensure the security, integrity, and authenticity of Android apps and their data. ECC uses elliptic curve mathematics to generate a pair of keys: a private key, used to sign data, and a public key, used to verify the signature. The signature itself is generated by hashing the data and then encrypting it using the private key. When the signature is verified using the public key, it guarantees that the data has not been altered, ensuring the integrity and authenticity of the app or message. ECC’s use of smaller key sizes makes it faster and more efficient than traditional cryptographic methods, which is particularly beneficial for mobile devices with limited computational resources. Additionally, ECC signatures are resistant to hacking attempts, offering strong protection against tampering and forgery. The use of strong ECC signatures also aligns with regulatory and industry standards for cryptography, helping to maintain compliance with data protection requirements and fostering trust in the app’s security.
How Appdome Protects Mobile Apps Strong ECC Signatures?
Appdome’s Enforce Strong ECC Signature Validation dynamic defense plugin ensures that all certificates used in the app adhere to the highest cryptographic standards. By enforcing ECC with at least 256-bit keys, Appdome prevents attackers from using forged certificates to compromise communication or tamper with data. This guarantees that only trusted, legitimate servers and services can communicate with the app, significantly enhancing overall security and protecting sensitive user data from interception or modification.
Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Enforce Strong ECC Signature Plugins:
To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Enforce Strong ECC Signature , you’ll need:
- Appdome account (create a free Appdome account here)
- A license for Enforce Strong ECC Signature
- Mobile App (.apk or .aab for Android)
- Signing Credentials (see Signing Secure Android apps and Signing Secure iOS apps)
How to Implement Enforce Strong ECC Signature in Android Apps Using Appdome
On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending Android Apps that Enforce Strong ECC Signature without an SDK or gateway:
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Designate the Mobile App to be protected.
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Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.
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Android Formats: .apk or .aab
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Enforce Strong ECC Signature is compatible with: Java, JS, C++, C#, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and other Android apps.
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Select the defense: Enforce Strong ECC Signature.
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Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Enforce Strong ECC Signature feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.
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When you enable Certificate Pinning you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Enforce Strong ECC Signature.
Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Enforce Strong ECC Signature protection
Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory). -
Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below):
Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary
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Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
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Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
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Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
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Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Enforce Strong ECC Signature feature as shown below:Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Enforce Strong ECC Signature feature
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Add the Enforce Strong ECC Signature feature to your security template.
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Navigate to Build > Security tab > Secure Communication section in the Appdome Console.
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Toggle On Certificate Pinning > Enforce Strong ECC Signature.
(a) Choose to monitor this attack vector by checking the Threat Events checkbox associated with Enforce Strong ECC Signature as shown below.
(b) To receive mobile Threat Monitoring, check the ThreatScope™ box as shown below. For more details, see our knowledge base article on ThreatScope™ Mobile XDR.Figure 4: Selecting Enforce Strong ECC Signature
Note: The Appdome Platform displays the Mobile Operation Systems supported by each defense in real-time. For more details, see our OS Support Policy KB. -
Select the Threat-Event™ in-app mobile Threat Defense and Intelligence policy for Enforce Strong ECC Signature:
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Threat-Events™ OFF > In-App Defense
If the Threat-Events™ setting is not selected. Appdome will detect and defend the user and app by enforcing Strong ECC Signature.
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Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Detection
When this setting is used, Appdome detects the use of a weak certificate signature and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing, enforcement, and user notification. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ to Enforce Enforce Strong ECC Signature Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.
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Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Defense
When this setting is used, Appdome detects and defends against Strong ECC Signature (same as Appdome Enforce) and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence to the app’s business logic for processing. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ for Enforce Enforce Strong ECC Signature Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.
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Configure the User Experience Options for Enforce Strong ECC Signature:
With Threat-Events™ OFF, Appdome provides several user experience options for mobile brands and developers.- App Compromise Notification: Customize the pop-up or toast Appdome uses to notify the user when a threat is present while using the protected mobile app.
- Short message Option. This is available for mobile devices that allow a banner notification for security events.
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Localized Message Option. Allows Appdome users to support global languages in security notifications.
Figure 5: Default User Experience Options for Appdome’s Strong ECC Signature
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Enforce Strong ECC Signature Threat Code™. Appdome uses AI/ML to generate a unique code each time Enforce Strong ECC Signature is triggered by an active threat on the mobile device. Use the code in Appdome Threat Resolution Center™ to help end users identify, find and resolve active threats on the personal mobile devices.
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Congratulations! The Enforce Strong ECC Signature protection is now added to the mobile app -
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Certify the Enforce Strong ECC Signature feature in Android Apps
After building Enforce Strong ECC Signature, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Enforce Strong ECC Signature protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Enforce Strong ECC Signature protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below:
Figure 6: Certified Secure™ certificate
Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that Enforce Strong ECC Signature has been added to each Android app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Enforce Strong ECC Signature and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.
Using Threat-Events™ for Strong ECC Signature Intelligence and Control in Android Apps
Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when Strong ECC Signature is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for Strong ECC Signature in Android Apps, use registerReceiver in the Application OnCreate, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for Strong ECC Signature shown below.
The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for Strong ECC Signature are:
Threat-Event™ Elements | Enforce Strong ECC Signature Method Detail |
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Appdome Feature Name | Enforce Strong ECC Signature |
Threat-Event Mode | |
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE | Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging. |
ON, IN-APP DETECTION | Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce). |
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE | Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection). |
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check | |
Visible in ThreatScope™ | |
Developer Parameters for Enforcing Strong ECC Signature Threat-Event™ | |
Threat-Event NAME | SslInvalidMinECCSignature |
Threat-Event DATA | reasonData |
Threat-Event CODE | reasonCode |
Threat-Event REF | 6801 |
Threat-Event SCORE | |
currentThreatEventScore | Current Threat-Event score |
threatEventsScore | Total Threat-events score |
Threat-Event Context Keys | |
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message | Message displayed for the user on event |
failSafeEnforce | Timed enforcement against the identified threat |
externalID | The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events |
osVersion | OS version of the current device |
deviceModel | Current device model |
deviceManufacturer | The manufacturer of the current device |
fusedAppToken | The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app |
kernelInfo | Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine. |
carrierPlmn | PLMN of the device. Only available for Android devices. |
deviceID | Current device ID |
reasonCode | Reason code of the occurred event |
buildDate | Appdome fusion date of the current application |
devicePlatform | OS name of the current device |
carrierName | Carrier name of the current device. Only available for Android. |
updatedOSVersion | Is the OS version up to date |
deviceBrand | Brand of the device |
deviceBoard | Board of the device |
buildUser | Build user |
buildHost | Build host |
sdkVersion | Sdk version |
timeZone | Time zone |
deviceFaceDown | Is the device face down |
locationLong | Location longitude conditioned by location permission |
locationLat | Location latitude conditioned by location permission |
locationState | Location state conditioned by location permission |
wifiSsid | Wifi SSID |
wifiSsidPermissionStatus | Wifi SSID permission status |
threatCode | The last six characters of the threat code specify the OS, allowing the Threat Resolution Center to address the attack on the affected device. |
host | The host that failed minimum requirement ECC signature validation |
DeveventDetailedErrorMessage | Error message |
extendedMessageText | Extended message |
certificateCN | Certificate common name |
certificateSHA1 | Certificate SHA1 |
With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), Android developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in Android applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when Strong ECC Signature is detected.
The following is a code sample for native Android apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Enforce Strong ECC Signature:
Important! Replace all placeholder instances of <Context Key> with the specific name of your threat event context key across all language examples. This is crucial to ensure your code functions correctly with the intended event data. For example, The <Context Key> could be the message, externalID, OS Version, reason code, etc.
xxxxxxxxxx
IntentFilter intentFilter = new IntentFilter();
intentFilter.addAction("SslInvalidMinECCSignature");
BroadcastReceiver threatEventReceiver = new BroadcastReceiver() {
public void onReceive(Context context, Intent intent) {
String message = intent.getStringExtra("message"); // Message shown to the user
String reasonData = intent.getStringExtra("reasonData"); // Threat detection cause
String reasonCode = intent.getStringExtra("reasonCode"); // Event reason code
// Current threat event score
String currentThreatEventScore = intent.getStringExtra("currentThreatEventScore");
// Total threat events score
String threatEventsScore = intent.getStringExtra("threatEventsScore");
// Replace '<Context Key>' with your specific event context key
// String variable = intent.getStringExtra("<Context Key>");
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}
};
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.TIRAMISU) {
registerReceiver(threatEventReceiver, intentFilter, Context.RECEIVER_NOT_EXPORTED);
} else {
registerReceiver(threatEventReceiver, intentFilter);
}
Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Android Apps by using Enforce Strong ECC Signature. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.
Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Enforce Strong ECC Signature
After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:
- Customizing, Configuring & Branding Secure Mobile Apps.
- Deploying/Publishing Secure mobile apps to Public or Private app stores.
- Releasing Secured Android & iOS Apps built on Appdome.
Related Articles:
How to Enforce SHA-256 Digest in Android & iOS Apps
How to use Secure Certificate Pinning in Android & iOS Apps
How to Prevent MiTM Attacks in Android Apps
How Do I Learn More?
If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.
Thank you!
Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.