Security risk control strategy of Android system

Source: Internet
Author: User
Tags password protection least privilege firewall

No software system is absolutely secure, and overall, the risks in Android can be summed up in five categories. Take precautions against each of these risks according to the following recommendations.

The first type of risk is misuse of application permissions. The following precautionary strategies are recommended for this type of risk.

Application authentication

Authentication is one of the effective means to prevent malicious programs. In an ideal state, an application must undergo complete testing and code review before authentication, confirming the rationality of its permission usage, which naturally has a powerful preventive effect on malicious software. However, the cost of authentication is high, the procedure is complex, and it does not have extensive practicability.

Choose to use Application permissions

If you can make sure that an application uses only the minimum permissions required in the installation phase, that is, following the principle of least privilege, the likelihood of a malware attack will be greatly reduced! This may be an option for experienced users, but for the vast majority of ordinary users, I'm afraid no one knows how to verify that the permissions the application requires are reasonable, and in most cases the user will grant the required permission directly. Therefore, developers need to strictly follow the principle of least privilege when applying for or setting permissions.

Automatic static analysis and code verification

Design a tool that automates the analysis of application features, analyzes the functionality of the application, and the differences between applications to determine its legitimacy.

The second type of risk is a vulnerability that attacks the Linux kernel and system library functions. Currently, for this risk, the adoption of a more stringent access control mechanism, the 6th chapter of the limited operating system user rights of SE Android, is a practical and effective choice. The most dangerous attack is to take advantage of the system vulnerabilities to gain root or superuser privileges, and then control the entire system. SE Android is a security enhancement that happens to be achieved by controlling root or superuser rights, even if an attacker acquires root user rights, but the scope of the damage may not be extended indefinitely. However, some system commands may not be completely disabled due to their normal use, and if an attacker happens to have access to that type of command, the SE android functionality is limited.

The third type of risk is to destroy the availability of private data, data privacy, and integrity. You can take the following strategies for prevention.

Login

Unlock certain features of a mobile device using the logon user password to prevent security threats. This is a common and effective way, especially for protecting privacy data information. However, when a device is lost, the protection exists if the device has not been unlocked with a password, and password protection is completely invalid if the device is not lost after it is unlocked.

Firewall

Firewalls can protect users ' private information from being compromised via a network connection. Typically, a stateless or stateful analysis of the contents of a network connection is used to find out whether private information is being compromised and therefore can be cut off from the transmission line. Because the firewall works in the operating system kernel, it cannot be directly violated by an external attack. At the same time, firewalls can work with the access control mechanisms provided by SE Android to provide a higher level of protection. However, malicious software does not disclose privacy information only through the network interface. For example, through SMS/MMS sent, the firewall will not work.

Data encryption

Data encryption is the best way to protect your privacy data. Because only the information owner has a key, the security of the privacy information is guaranteed even if the device is stolen.

Context-sensitive access controls (Caac,context aware access control)

CAAC can determine access based on the internal and peripheral environment used by the device, such as the location used by the device, the mobile network that is logged on, and whether Wi-Fi is connected. However, this type of approach is not valid if the attack happens in an environment that is allowed access.

See more highlights of this column: http://www.bianceng.cnhttp://www.bianceng.cn/OS/extra/

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