How to Encrypt Android & iOS Data with FIPS 140-2

Last updated March 14, 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 Encrypt FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic in Mobile apps.

What is FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic?

The Federal Information Processing Standard  Publication 140-2 (FIPS 140-2) is a U.S. government computer security standard used to approve cryptographic modules.

Adding FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules is part of the Appdome Mobile Security Suite. You can find it under TOTALDataTM Encryption. Appdome uses the FIPS 140-2 certified versions of the commercially available encryption libraries. These libraries (OpenSSL’s libcrypto and libssl) have themselves undergone FIPS certification.

 

Why Encrypt FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic in Mobile Apps?

The following Appdome features make use of FIPS 140-2 compliant cryptography:

  • Appdome’s TOTALData™Encryption makes use of FIPS 140-2 compliant RNG to generate unique IVs (Initial Vectors), and the AES256 block-cipher.
  • Appdome’s Trusted session inspection uses FIPS 140-2 compliant certificate and certificate-chain verification methods (X509_verify_cert). In addition, only FIPS 140-2 compliant encryption and hash algorithms will be used in the said handshake.
  • Appdome’s Copy/Paste protection makes use of FIPS 140-2 compliant RNG to generate unique IVs (Initial Vectors), and the AES256 block-cipher.
  • ONEShield:
    • Appdome’s Checksum validation computes and verifies only using FIPS 140-2 approved checksum algorithms (SHA-1, SHA-224, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512, SHA-512/224and SHA-512/256).
    • Appdome encrypts the strings and resources of the application using FIPS 140-2 compliant RNG to generate unique IVs (Initial Vectors), and the AES256 block-cipher.
    • Appdome’s Non-native code obfuscation makes use of FIPS 140-2 compliant RNG to generate unique IVs (Initial Vectors), and the AES256 block-cipher.
  • MicroVPN:
    Appdome uses only FIPS 140-2 compliant cryptographic functions when establishing TLS connections. When used in Session Hardening mode, the outward facing connection will be established using FIPS 140-2 cryptographic functions, so in effect, this makes all outgoing TLS connections FIPS 140-2 compliant.

Prerequisites for Using Appdome's FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules Plugins:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Encrypt FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic , you’ll need:

How to Implement Encrypt FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic in Mobile Apps Using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending Mobile Apps that Encrypt FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic 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. Mobile App Formats: .ipa for iOS, or .apk or .aab for Android
    3. FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules is compatible with: Obj-C, Java, JS, C#, C++, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, and more.
  2. Select the defense: FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules.

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules feature as shown below:
        fusion set that contains FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules feature

      2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.

      3. When you select the FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules.

        Fusion Set applied FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules

        Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules 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 FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules feature to your security template.

      1. Navigate to Build > Security tab > TOTALData™ Encryption section in the Appdome Console.
      2. Toggle On > FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules.
        FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules option

        Figure 4: Selecting Encrypt FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic

        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.

      3. Configure the User Experience Options for FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules:
        With Threat-Events™ OFF, Appdome provides several user experience options for mobile brands and developers.
        1. 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.
        2. Short message Option. This is available for mobile devices that allow a banner notification for security events.
        3. Localized Message Option. Allows Appdome users to support global languages in security notifications.

          Localized Message

          Figure 5: Default User Experience Options for Appdome’s FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic

        4. FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules Threat Code™. Appdome uses AI/ML to generate a unique code each time FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules 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.
    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 FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules feature in Mobile Apps

    After building FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules shown in Certificate secure

    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 FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules has been added to each Mobile app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.

Using Threat-Events™ for FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic in Mobile Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Encrypt FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules
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 Encrypting FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic 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.
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.

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), Mobile developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in Mobile applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic is detected.


The following is a code sample for native Mobile apps, which uses all values in the specification above for FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules:


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 Mobile Apps by using FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules. 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 FIPS 140-2 Cryptographic Modules

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:

Check out the full menu of features in the Appdome Mobile Security Suite

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.

Want a Demo?

Mobile Data Encryption

GilWe're here to help
We'll get back to you in 24 hours to schedule your demo.

Search Appdome Solutions

Search
Supercharge The Experience In Mobile App Defense

Supercharge the Experience in Mobile App Defense

Appdome revolutionizes mobile app defense by integrating security seamlessly, enhancing the user experience for developers, cyber teams, and end-users without disruption.

Better User Experience In Mobile Defense

Better User Experience in Mobile Defense

This blog show how Appdome’s Intelligent Defense helps mobile brands and users resolve threats with the user experience as a central priority.