How can you prevent the mobile application from repackaging?

Mobile application repackaging is the process in which the existing Android application will be reverse-engineered by cyber criminals to have accessibility to its source code. Later on, the application will be modified to include the malicious intent and after it will be distributed without the original developer’s permission for harmful purposes. This altered version will be all about compromising the user data, privacy and security which will be a significant threat to the user and developer mobile application security. So, taking the concept of mobile repackaging very seriously from the perspective of app security is important because it will facilitate intellectual property theft that further will be in involving stealing and using somebody else’s creations, inventions and proprietary information without permission. This can include the following:

1. Patents: This will be all about protecting the inventions  
2. Copyrights: This will be covering the creative work like the software 
3. Trademarks: This will be all about identifying the brand and logo 
4. Trade secrets: This will be the confidential business information 

Repackaging attacks are basically a direct form of IP theft for multiple reasons and some of those reasons are: 

1. Unauthorised use of coding: Attackers in this particular case will be decompiling and modifying the original source code of the application which is a clear-cut violation of the copyright of the developers and the unauthorised use of coding in this particular case will be a theft of developer’s intellectual property. 
2. Revenue diversion: This will be all about removing the ads and bypassing the application purchases after which the attackers will be diverting the revenue that rightfully belongs to the original developers. This will not only constitute financial theft but also will undermine the developer’s business model. 
3. Business and brand exploitation: Any application which has already gone through the concept of repackaging will usually retain the look and feel of the original further misleading the users into thinking that they are using the legitimate product. Exploitation of the developer’s brand and reputation in this particular case is a form of trademark infringement. 
4. Distribution of the modified application: Applications in this particular case will be branding the application and distributing it as their own which will be all about effectively stealing the developer’s market share and user base. This will be particularly damaging for the less popular applications which can be repackaged to include the new branding and advertising and further, the generating of revenue for the attacker will be done instead of the original developer. 

Why should you focus on preventing the application from repackaging into the Android applications? 

1. To prevent the application’s malware distribution: Repackaging is a very common technique that has been used by malware creators to inject malicious coding into legitimate applications. By preventing the repackaging, the developers will be able to reduce the risk of application applications being used as vehicles for the distribution of problems.
2. For preserving the application’s authenticity and integrity: Repackaging in this particular case will be all about altering the original coding and will compromise the authenticity as well as potentially introduce vulnerabilities or unwanted functionality. 
3. Maintaining the revenue streams: The applications will bypass the purchases, removing and redirecting the additional revenue or distributing the paid applications for free. This will be all about causing financial losses for legitimate developers. 
4. Protecting the user data and privacy: Repackaged applications will include the coding to steal the user credentials, financial information and other sensitive data. 
5. Ensuring compliance with the store policies: Many application stores will be including Google Play and will have the policies against the repackaged applications which will prevent the repackaging and will be helpful in ensuring compliance with the policies. 
6. Reducing privacy: Repackaging will be a common method for application privacy and also will allow the attackers to distribute the paid application applications for free and modify them to generate revenue for themselves.

What are the most common steps that you can take seriously to prevent the application repackaging without SDK or Gateway? 

1. Going for code obfuscation: This is one of the most important aspects that you need to take seriously because the application coding in this case will be difficult to read and understand. Tools like Proguard this particular case will be helpful in undertaking things very easily and further will provide you with the best element of support. All of these tools will be helpful in improving the layers of application coding protection without any problem.
2. Performing the integrity check: Implementing the runtime integrity check is also very vital because this will be helpful in keeping the application coding safe and secure which further will make sure that verification will be very well sorted out. This will be helpful in protecting the developer certificate during the runtime without any problem. 
3. Native code integration: This will be all about undertaking the security checks very seriously and further will be helpful in providing people with the best element of support in terms of dealing with sensitive coding without any problem. This will be helpful in making sure that people will be able to deal with the Java native interface without any problems right from the beginning.
4. Going for encryption: Encrypting the sensitive component of the application including the resources and critical coding is important because this will be helpful in providing people with the best level of support. This will additionally deal with the layer of application security which makes it very hard for attackers to access and modify the content of the application.
5. Securing the communication: It is also very important for people to make sure that they are dealing with the data transmission within the application and server very easily and further will be able to implement the encryption without any problem. Implementing the certificate pending to prevent the man-in-the-middle attack is important so that things are very well sorted out. 

Hence it is very important for people to note that android application repackaging will pose significant threats to users and developers which is the main reason that taking the concept of cur very seriously is important. Focusing on the above-mentioned APPSEC initiatives is very important for people so that everyone will be able to launch the perfect applications in the market without any problematic situation at any point in time.