A mobile application security startup, Appknox, has stated that its review of fintech apps in Nigeria reveals that 40% of the apps are exposed to high and critical impact issues.
The Times reported that this information was revealed by the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Appknox, Harshit Agarwal at a round-table discussion with the title “How to think security first in a super-fast mobile economy – Act or React” that was hosted by CED Technologies and Appknox.
He said that of the 40%, more than 80% have insufficient code obfuscation, 60% have broken/disabled SSL, 35% have misconfigured network security, and 25% show recording of audio and screen activity.
Speaking during the summit, security professionals from the banking and technology ecosystems emphasized the advantages of having multiple layers of security on mobile technologies, applications, and services in the global economies that are known as mobile economies.
The chief technology officer at CED Technologies, Chukwuebuka Ume-Ezeoke, argues that while people are developing mobile technology solutions that benefit and enhance the lives of everyone in and outside of Africa, security must come first.
“While companies like Appknox and CED Technologies have built a safe and secured mobile ecosystem using a system plus human approach to outsmart hackers, we believe that it is everyone’s business to think security first, recheck, and double check so that businesses can be as secure as possible,” he told Journalists.
In order to encourage everyone to put security first while developing solutions that help and improve everyone’s life in and outside of Africa, he pointed out that the meeting was called to bring security leaders, bank executives, chief information security officers, heads of risk management, and even founders of various FinTech apps.
Mr. Chukwuebuka mentioned the significance of API Security for organizations in order to prevent Data Breaches by ensuring that the data is transmitted in an encrypted state and that only authorized users and applications have access to it.
Others include safeguarding sensitive Data, highlighting the fact that unsecured APIs allow hackers to intercept and steal sensitive data, causing serious financial and reputational harm to the organization.
By safeguarding sensitive data and enabling secure access to APIs, he continued, “API security ensures that the organisation is compliant with regulations like GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA.”
The Chief Information Security Officer of FirstBank and its subsidiaries, Harrison Nnaji, also made a statement during the discussion on the advantages of mobile app security, citing data protection, user confidence, compliance with the law, increased reputation, and competitive advantage.
This is true despite the fact that he identified the main security threats in the lightning-fast mobile economy as mobile malware/ransomware, supply chain risks, a dynamic threat landscape, social engineering, data breaches, poorly designed apps, unpatched software, and insufficient user education.
