How to Obfuscate Swift Metadata in iOS Apps
Learn to Obfuscate Swift Metadata in iOS apps, in mobile CI/CD with a Data-Driven DevSecOps™ build system.
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 Obfuscate Swift Metadata:
To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Obfuscate Swift Metadata , you’ll need:
- Appdome account (create a free Appdome account here)
- A license for Obfuscate Swift Metadata
- Mobile App (.ipa for iOS)
- Signing Credentials (see Signing Secure Android apps and Signing Secure iOS apps)
Obfuscate Swift Metadata on 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:
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Upload the Mobile App to Appdome.
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Upload an app to Appdome’s Mobile App Security Build System
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Upload Method: Appdome Console or DEV-API
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iOS Formats: .ipa
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Obfuscate Swift Metadata Compatible With: Obj-C, Java, Swift, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and more
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Build the feature: Obfuscate Swift Metadata.
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Building Obfuscate Swift Metadata by using Appdome’s DEV-API:
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Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Obfuscate Swift Metadata feature as shown below:
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Follow the steps in Sections 2.2.1-2.2.2 of this article, Building the Obfuscate Swift Metadata feature via Appdome Console, to add the Obfuscate Swift Metadata feature to this Fusion Set.
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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 2: Fusion Set Detail Summary
Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory). -
Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, App Center, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
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Build an API for the app – for instructions, see the tasks under Appdome API Reference Guide
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Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository
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Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Obfuscate Swift Metadata feature
Note: Naming the Fusion Set to correspond to the protection(s) selected is for illustration purposes only (not required). -
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Building the Obfuscate Swift Metadata feature via Appdome Console
To build the Obfuscate Swift Metadata protection by using Appdome Console, follow the instructions below.
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Where: Inside the Appdome Console, go to Build > Security Tab > TOTALCode™ Obfuscation section.
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When you enable iOS Logic Obfuscation you'll notice that your Fusion Set you created in step 2.1.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Obfuscate Swift Metadata
Figure 4: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Obfuscate Swift Metadata protection
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Click Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 3).
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Congratulations! The Obfuscate Swift Metadata protection is now added to the mobile app -
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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:
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 |
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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 | |
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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. |
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 |
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:
let center = NotificationCenter.default
center.addObserver(forName: Notification.Name(""), object: nil, queue: nil) { (note) in
guard let usrInf = note.userInfo else {
return
}
let message = usrInf["message"]; // Message shown to the user
let reasonData = usrInf["reasonData"]; // Threat detection cause
let reasonCode = usrInf["reasonCode"]; // Event reason code
let currentThreatEventScore = usrInf["currentThreatEventScore"]; // Current threat event score
let threatEventsScore = usrInf["threatEventsScore"]; // Total threat events score
let variable = usrInf["<Context Key>"]; // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}
[[NSNotificationCenter defaultCenter] addObserverForName: @"" object:nil queue:nil usingBlock:^(NSNotification *org_note) {
__block NSNotification *note = org_note;
dispatch_async(dispatch_get_main_queue(), ^(void) {
NSString *message = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"message"]; // Message shown to the user
NSString *reasonData = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"reasonData"]; // Threat detection cause
NSString *reasonCode = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"reasonCode"]; // Event reason code
NSString *currentThreatEventScore = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"currentThreatEventScore"]; // Current threat event score
NSString *threatEventsScore = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"threatEventsScore"]; // Total threat events score
NSString *variable = [[note userInfo] objectForKey:@"<Context Key>"]; // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
});
}];
const { ADDevEvents } = NativeModules;
const aDDevEvents = new NativeEventEmitter(ADDevEvents);
function registerToDevEvent(action, callback) {
NativeModules.ADDevEvents.registerForDevEvent(action);
aDDevEvents.addListener(action, callback);
}
export function registerToAllEvents() {
registerToDevEvent(
"",
(userinfo) => Alert.alert(JSON.stringify(userinfo))
var message = userinfo["message"] // Message shown to the user
var reasonData = userinfo["reasonData"] // Threat detection cause
var reasonCode = userinfo["reasonCode"] // Event reason code
var currentThreatEventScore = userinfo["currentThreatEventScore"] // Current threat event score
var threatEventsScore = userinfo["threatEventsScore"] // Total threat events score
var variable = userinfo["<Context Key>"] // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
);
}
RegisterReceiver(new ThreatEventReceiver(), new IntentFilter(""));
class ThreatEventReceiver : BroadcastReceiver
{
public override 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
String currentThreatEventScore = intent.GetStringExtra("currentThreatEventScore"); // Current threat event score
String threatEventsScore = intent.GetStringExtra("threatEventsScore"); // Total threat events score
String variable = intent.GetStringExtra("<Context Key>"); // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}
}
NSNotificationCenter.DefaultCenter.AddObserver(
(NSString)"", // Threat-Event Identifier
delegate (NSNotification notification)
{
var message = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("message"); // Message shown to the user
var reasonData = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("reasonData"); // Threat detection cause
var reasonCode = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("reasonCode"); // Event reason code
var currentThreatEventScore = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("currentThreatEventScore"); // Current threat event score
var threatEventsScore = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("threatEventsScore"); // Total threat events score
var variable = notification.UserInfo.ObjectForKey("<Context Keys>"); // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
});
window.broadcaster.addEventListener("", function(userInfo) {
var message = userInfo.message // Message shown to the user
var reasonData = userInfo.reasonData // Threat detection cause
var reasonCode = userInfo.reasonCode // Event reason code
var currentThreatEventScore = userInfo.currentThreatEventScore // Current threat event score
var threatEventsScore = userInfo.threatEventsScore // Total threat events score
var variable = userInfo.<Context Key> // Any other event specific context key
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
});
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import 'dart:async';
​
import 'package:flutter/material.dart';
import 'package:flutter/services.dart';
​
class PlatformChannel extends StatefulWidget {
const PlatformChannel({super.key});
​
State<PlatformChannel> createState() => _PlatformChannelState();
}
​
class _PlatformChannelState extends State<PlatformChannel> {
static const String _eventChannelName = ''; // Replace with your EventChannel name
static const EventChannel _eventChannel = EventChannel(_eventChannelName);
​
void initState() {
super.initState();
_eventChannel.receiveBroadcastStream().listen(_onEvent, onError: _onError);
}
​
void _onEvent(Object? event) {
setState(() {
// Adapt this section based on your specific event data structure
var eventData = event as Map;
​
// Example: Accessing 'externalID' field from the event
var externalID = eventData['externalID'];
​
// Customize the rest of the fields based on your event structure
String message = eventData['message']; // Message shown to the user
String reasonData = eventData['reasonData']; // Threat detection cause
String reasonCode = eventData['reasonCode']; // Event reason code
String currentThreatEventScore = eventData['currentThreatEventScore']; // Current threat event score
String threatEventsScore = eventData['threatEventsScore']; // Total threat events score
​
// Any other event specific context key
String variable = eventData['<Context Key>'];
});
}
​
// Your logic goes here (Send data to Splunk/Dynatrace/Show Popup...)
}
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:
- 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 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.
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.