Mobile Application Pentesting for iOS and Android

When companies like Uber, WhatsApp, or BBVA release a new version of their mobile app, there’s something that happens behind the scenes long before it hits the app store: thorough security testing. These companies know that a single vulnerability can cost millions—both in financial losses and reputational damage.

Penetration testing on mobile applications is a key part of the process. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a startup developing your first app or a large company with millions of users—protecting your customers’ information is not optional. In this article, we’ll walk you through exactly what a mobile pentest is, how it’s carried out, and which tools and methodologies cybersecurity experts use to stay one step ahead of hackers.

What is Mobile Application Penetration Testing?

This type of testing, also known as mobile pentesting, is a way to thoroughly assess an app’s security by simulating real-world attacks. Basically, it’s like stress-testing your app to see how it would respond if a hacker tried to exploit it. The goal? To detect vulnerabilities before someone with bad intentions does.

This type of assessment focuses on all critical aspects of an app: from how its APIs communicate with servers, to how it handles authentication, system access permissions, protection of local and cloud storage, and even inter-process communication within the device itself. And the best part: it can be performed on both Android and iOS—sometimes even on less common platforms (although many modern tools no longer support systems like BlackBerry or Windows Phone).

What Is Mobile Pentesting For and What Are Its Benefits?

Beyond simply “checking if something breaks,” penetration testing offers concrete benefits for the secure development of mobile applications. Here are the most important ones:

1. Identify Real Vulnerabilities: From misconfigurations to complex logic flaws, pentesting helps uncover weaknesses that could compromise the app and user data. Some issues aren't immediately visible, but they can serve as open doors for attackers.

2. Evaluate Security Controls: It verifies whether the implemented protections actually work. This includes checking for strong authentication, proper encryption of sensitive data, and prevention of unauthorized access to system resources.

3. Recommend Actionable Improvements: A good pentest report doesn’t just point out flaws—it provides practical, prioritized solutions. This helps development teams fix issues quickly without wasting time on unnecessary diagnostics.

4. Integrate Security from the Start: Pentesting can become a natural part of the development cycle. It’s not just about reviewing a finished app, but about improving it from the early stages to avoid costly mistakes down the road.

5. Build Trust and Protect Your Brand: Showing that your app has been audited by security experts doesn’t just protect data—it also protects your reputation. Users trust companies that take cybersecurity seriously.

6. Meet Regulatory Requirements: Regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, SOC 2, or ISO 27001 demand specific security standards. Penetration testing helps meet these frameworks, avoiding penalties and ensuring legal compliance.

7. Proactively Manage Risks: Identifying flaws before they turn into incidents is an effective (and more affordable) way to manage your app’s security. Prevention is far cheaper than responding to an actual attack.

8. Strengthen Your Overall Security Posture: When testing is done regularly, it builds a culture of continuous improvement. This reinforces your entire cybersecurity strategy and makes your apps increasingly resilient to emerging threats.

How to Prepare for a Mobile Application Penetration Test

An effective penetration test begins long before the technical team writes a single line of code. Proper preparation ensures the assessment is thorough and aligned with the actual risks your application faces. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you get ready:

1. Sign Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs): Before anything begins, it's essential to sign a confidentiality agreement between the testing team and the company. This protects all the information shared during the process, including technical details, credentials, and internal operations.

2. Clearly Define the Scope: Specify which components of the app will be tested—key features, data flows, APIs, integrations, etc. It's also important to clarify what is out of scope to avoid misunderstandings during the test.

3. Share Documentation and Access Credentials: The more information the testing team has, the better the results will be. Provide technical documentation, architecture details, information about authentication flows, APIs in use, and any specific design patterns. Also, supply login credentials for different types of users (e.g., standard user and admin) on both iOS and Android. If the app hasn’t been published yet, you can share the APK (Android) or IPA (iOS) file.

4. Ensure a Proper Testing Environment: Whenever possible, testing should be conducted in an environment separate from production. However, that environment should closely mimic the real one in terms of data and behavior. This ensures the findings are relevant and actionable.

5. Include Specific Tools or Configurations: If your app uses custom technologies or uncommon frameworks, provide clear instructions or tools that can help the pentesters understand how to interact with the system more effectively.

6. Identify Sensitive or Restricted Areas: If certain parts of the app contain especially sensitive data or are subject to legal restrictions, notify the team in advance to prevent mistakes or unauthorized access.

7. Establish Clear Communication Channels: Strong communication between your team and the security team is key. Define from the outset how you’ll stay in touch during the testing phase (email, Slack, Teams, etc.) and who the points of contact will be.

8. Prefer Gray Box Testing (or White Box if Possible): Gray box testing combines internal knowledge of the app (such as account access or specific functionalities) with a realistic attack simulation. It’s far more effective than black box testing, where testers have no prior knowledge of the system.

If you can take it a step further and allow white box testing (with access to the source code), the results will be even more comprehensive and accurate.

Read more: Types of Pentesting: Which one is right for your business?

How to Use OWASP to Strengthen Your Mobile App Security

When it comes to penetration testing for mobile applications, OWASP is one of the most trusted and comprehensive resources available. While many associate it with web security, its mobile focus is equally robust—designed to help developers and cybersecurity professionals identify the most critical weaknesses in any app.

A cornerstone of this approach is the OWASP Mobile Top 10, a regularly updated list that highlights the ten most common threats in mobile apps. This list not only shows you what to look for but also helps you prioritize the issues that could genuinely compromise user data or the integrity of your business.

OWASP also provides incredibly useful tools like the MASTG (Mobile Application Security Testing Guide)—a technical guide packed with methodologies, checklists, and specific test cases to assess everything from data storage to how the app behaves on a device.

Another key resource is the MASVS (Mobile Application Security Verification Standard), which defines concrete criteria for determining whether an app meets expected security levels. And if you're looking for something more hands-on and actionable, OWASP's Mobile Security Cheat Sheet offers best practices and quick tips to help secure your application effectively.

The takeaway? Integrating these OWASP methodologies into your mobile pentests keeps your practices aligned with international security standards—making your apps far more resilient to cyberattacks.

Most Common Mobile App Vulnerabilities (According to OWASP Mobile Top 10 2024)

Just like web applications have their own set of risks, mobile apps also face specific vulnerabilities that can be easily exploited if not identified in time. According to the OWASP Mobile Top 10 for 2024, these are the most critical threats to watch out for:

1. M1: Improper Credential Usage – Poor handling of keys or tokens that allows unauthorized access to the app.

2. M2: Insecure Supply Chain – Vulnerabilities in third-party dependencies or malicious libraries integrated without review.

3. M3: Insecure Authentication or Authorization – Flaws that allow unauthorized users to perform restricted actions or access protected data.

4. M4: Insufficient Input/Output Validation – Poor data sanitization that can lead to injection attacks or data leaks.

5. M5: Insecure Communication – Data transmitted without proper encryption, making it easy to intercept.

6. M6: Inadequate Privacy Controls – Failure to protect users’ personal information, leading to potential privacy violations.

7. M7: Weak Binary Protections – Allows attackers to reverse engineer, manipulate the code, or alter app behavior.

8. M8: Insecure Configuration – Poorly managed default settings that expose sensitive parts of the application.

9. M9: Unprotected Data Storage – Storing sensitive data on the device without encryption, one of the most common and dangerous flaws.

10. M10: Insecure Cryptography Usage – Weak algorithms, poorly managed keys, or incorrect implementations that fail to protect data.

Other Vulnerabilities in Mobile Apps

Beyond what’s covered in the OWASP Top 10, there are additional critical areas that are often overlooked but can also become entry points for attackers. Here’s a summary of the most common issues we encounter during mobile app security tests:

Read more: Web Pentesting: How to perform effective pentesting on your website?

How Long Does a Mobile Application Penetration Test Take?

If you're planning a mobile penetration test for your app, you're probably wondering: how long does it actually take to do it right? The short answer is—it depends. The duration varies based on several factors, such as the app’s complexity, the included features, and any compliance requirements your industry may have.

Here’s an overview of how long a mobile security test might take, depending on the type of app and what can influence the timeline:

1. Basic Mobile Apps (Around 1 Week): Simpler apps (like utility tools, basic games, or small e-commerce platforms) usually require 5 to 10 business days. This is enough time to run comprehensive automated scans, perform manual testing, and deliver a detailed report with recommendations.
   
   
2. Medium-Complexity Apps (2 to 3 Weeks): These include apps with multiple user roles, more complex workflows, integration with external APIs, or features like two-factor authentication. For these, a mobile pentest typically takes 2 to 3 weeks due to the broader attack surface and more use cases to validate.
   
   
3. Complex or Large-Scale Mobile Apps (3 Weeks or More): Enterprise, fintech, banking, or healthcare apps—with functions like NFC payments, biometrics, advanced encryption, or heavy data handling—require a deeper approach. Testing here may extend to 4 weeks or more, especially if frameworks like PCI DSS, HIPAA, or ISO 27001 need to be met.

What Does a Mobile Penetration Test Include?

A mobile pentest isn’t just about running automated tools to find bugs. It’s a structured process that blends technical skill, experience, and strategy. Here's what you can expect from a professional pentesting service:

1. Initial Consultation and Scope Definition: Everything begins with a meeting to understand your security objectives, define what will (and won’t) be tested, and set clear expectations.

2. Reconnaissance and Preliminary Analysis: The pentest team analyzes the app’s structure, technologies used, user roles, and communication with external services. This step is essential for crafting a tailored testing strategy.

3. Automated Vulnerability Scanning: Specialized tools are used to detect common flaws and insecure patterns, providing a foundation for deeper manual testing.

4. Manual Testing and Controlled Exploitation: This is where experts make the biggest impact—by attempting to exploit real vulnerabilities, simulating real-world attacks that could compromise data, functions, or system integrity.

5. Ongoing Updates: Throughout the process, the pentesting team keeps you informed with regular, easy-to-understand updates.

6. Comprehensive Report with Findings and Recommendations: The final result is a detailed report listing all identified vulnerabilities, their risk level, and—most importantly—how to fix them.

7. Remediation Guidance and Support: Actionable, prioritized recommendations are provided based on impact, along with expert advice to help your development team implement fixes effectively.

8. Post-Remediation Validation (Optional): After issues are addressed, a follow-up round of testing can be done to confirm everything was properly resolved.

Read more: Phases of Pentesting: How to secure your systems step by step?

Conclusión: Invertir en seguridad móvil es proteger tu futuro digital

Today, penetration testing for mobile applications is no longer optional. It’s a critical tool for identifying real vulnerabilities, strengthening security controls, and staying ahead of potential attacks before they cause financial losses or damage your business’s reputation.

At TecnetOne, we have a team of certified ethical hackers who go far beyond basic testing. We combine automated tools with advanced manual techniques to thoroughly assess your app and deliver clear, prioritized reports with practical recommendations—so you can take action immediately.

If you’re looking for a technical partner who truly understands security from the inside out, we’re ready to help. We evaluate every application based on its context and risk level—whether you’re developing a fintech app, a healthcare solution, or an enterprise-grade platform.

Remember: choosing a provider with real-world expertise in technical cybersecurity can make the difference between an app that withstands attacks... and one that ends up as the next data breach headline.