How to Obfuscate Swift Metadata in iOS Apps

Last updated August 8, 2024 by Appdome

This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Obfuscate Swift Metadata in iOS apps.

What is Swift Metadata?

Swift metadata refers to the runtime metadata generated by the Swift compiler for types and other constructs in Swift programs. This metadata plays a crucial role in supporting various language features and runtime behaviors. Reverse Engineering tools parse Swift metadata embedded in an executable in order to provide additional context when trying to infer the logic of the app. For example, Swift Metadata describes a class hierarchy, method implementations, enums, structs, and other types that will contain relevant information about their structure and properties. Obfuscating Swift Metadata prevents reverse engineering tools from properly parsing the binary, which makes these tools far less effective.

How Does Obfuscating Swift Metadata Protect Your Mobile App?

Obfuscating Swift Metadata can significantly enhance the security of your iOS applications by making it more difficult for attackers to analyze and reverse engineer the app’s code.

Here’s how this protection mechanism benefits your mobile app:

Prevents Code Comprehension:

By obfuscating the metadata, you obscure the details that would typically be available to reverse engineering tools. This includes information about class hierarchies, method signatures, and data structures. Without clear insights into these aspects, comprehending the underlying logic and structure of the app becomes significantly harder for an attacker.

Reduces Attack Surfaces:

When metadata is obfuscated, potential attackers cannot easily identify weaknesses or entry points within the app’s architecture. This obfuscation doesn’t just protect the code but also reduces the overall attack surface by hiding the relationships and interfaces between components.

Protects Intellectual Property:

Your application’s logic and design are vital intellectual properties that can give you a competitive edge. Obfuscating Swift Metadata helps protect your business’s proprietary techniques and processes from being copied or reused by competitors through reverse engineering.

Enhances Other Security Measures:

Metadata obfuscation complements other security practices such as code obfuscation and encryption. When combined, these methods provide a robust defense against various forms of analysis and attacks, fortifying your app’s overall security posture.

Meets Compliance Requirements:

Some industries have strict regulations about protecting data and ensuring privacy.

By obfuscating metadata, you can help ensure that your app meets these compliance requirements, which often include provisions to protect against reverse engineering and other forms of tampering. Incorporating metadata obfuscation as part of a comprehensive security strategy is crucial for protecting your app from sophisticated reverse engineering tools and techniques, thereby safeguarding your application’s integrity, security, and competitive advantage.

Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Obfuscate Swift Metadata Plugins:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Obfuscate Swift Metadata , you’ll need:

How to Implement Obfuscate Swift Metadata in iOS Apps Using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these simple steps to create self-defending iOS Apps that Obfuscate Swift Metadata without an SDK or gateway:

  1. Designate the Mobile App to be protected.

    1. Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.

    2. iOS Formats: .ipa
    3. Obfuscate Swift Metadata is compatible with: Obj-C, Java, Swift, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and other iOS apps.
  2. Select the defense: Obfuscate Swift Metadata.

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Obfuscate Swift Metadata feature as shown below:
        fusion set that contains Obfuscate Swift Metadata

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Obfuscate Swift Metadata feature

      2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Obfuscate Swift Metadata feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.

      3. When you enable iOS Logic Obfuscation you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Obfuscate Swift Metadata.

        Fusion Set applied Obfuscate Swift Metadata

        Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Obfuscate Swift Metadata protection
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      4. 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): fusion Set Detail Summary image

        Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary

      5. 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:
        1. Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
    1. Add the Obfuscate Swift Metadata feature to your security template.

      1. Navigate to Build > Security tab > TOTALCode™ Obfuscation section in the Appdome Console.
      2. Toggle On iOS Logic Obfuscation > Obfuscate Swift Metadata.
        Note: The checkmark feature Obfuscate Swift Metadata is enabled by default, as shown below. Obfuscate Swift Metadata option

        Figure 4: Selecting Obfuscate Swift Metadata

    2. Initiate the build command either by clicking Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 4) or via your CI/CD as described in Section 2.1.4.
    Congratulations!  The Obfuscate Swift Metadata protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Obfuscate Swift Metadata feature in iOS Apps

    After building Obfuscate Swift Metadata, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Obfuscate Swift Metadata protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Obfuscate Swift Metadata protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: Obfuscate Swift Metadata shown in Certificate secure

    Figure 5: 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 Obfuscate Swift Metadata has been added to each iOS app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Obfuscate Swift Metadata and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.

Using Threat-Events™ for Swift Metadata Intelligence and Control in iOS Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when Swift Metadata is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for Swift Metadata in iOS Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for Swift Metadata shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for Swift Metadata are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Obfuscate Swift Metadata Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Obfuscate Swift Metadata
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 x
Visible in ThreatScope™ x
Developer Parameters for Obfuscating Swift Metadata Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME
Threat-Event DATA reasonData
Threat-Event CODE reasonCode
Threat-Event REF
Threat-Event SCORE
currentThreatEventScore Current Threat-Event score
threatEventsScore Total Threat-events score
Threat-Event Context Keys
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.
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
updatedOSVersion Is the OS version up to date
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.

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), iOS developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in iOS applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when Swift Metadata is detected.


The following is a code sample for native iOS apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Obfuscate Swift Metadata:


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.



Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured iOS Apps by using Obfuscate Swift Metadata. 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 Obfuscate Swift Metadata

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:

Related Articles:

How Obfuscating iOS Logic Enhances iOS App Security

How to Implement Non-Native Code Obfuscation in Android & iOS Mobile Apps

How to Obfuscate Debug Info in iOS 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.

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