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We conduct a large-scale measurement of developers' insecure practices leading to mini-app to super-app authentication bypass, among which hard-coding developer secrets for such authentication is a major contributor. We also analyze the…
E-commerce mobile applications are central to global financial transactions, making their security and privacy crucial. In this study, we analyze 92 top-grossing Android e-commerce apps (58 U.S.-based and 34 international) using MobSF,…
Nowadays privacy in the connected world is a big user's concern. The ubiquity of mobile devices permits billions of users browse the web at anytime, anywhere. Near Field Communication (NFC) appeared as a seamlessly and simply communication…
Private messaging over internet related services is difficult to implement. Regular end-to-end encryption messaging systems are prone to man in the middle attacks and only hide messages but not the identity of its users. For example,…
Mobile Health (mHealth) applications have become a crucial part of health monitoring and management. However, the proliferation of these applications has also raised concerns over the privacy and security of Personally Identifiable…
Web communication has become an indispensable characteristic of mobile apps. However, it is not clear what data the apps transmit, to whom, and what consequences such transmissions have. We analyzed the web communications found in mobile…
Mobile applications (apps) have become deeply personal, constantly demanding access to privacy-sensitive information in exchange for more personalized user experiences. Such privacy-invading practices have generated major multidimensional…
WhatsApp messenger is arguably the most popular mobile app available on all smart-phones. Over one billion people worldwide for free messaging, calling, and media sharing use it. In April 2016, WhatsApp switched to a default end-to-end…
Mobile health applications (mHealth apps), particularly in the health and fitness category, have experienced an increase in popularity due to their convenience and availability. However, this widespread adoption raises concerns regarding…
Among populations with limited literacy in emerging digital markets, the adoption of mobile phones, combined with comprehension barriers and poor cybersecurity hygiene, has created hidden privacy risks. This paper examines how informed…
The advancements in the digitization world has revolutionized the automotive industry. Today's modern cars are equipped with internet, computers that can provide autonomous driving functionalities as well as infotainment systems that can…
Mental health is an extremely important subject, especially in these unprecedented times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ubiquitous mobile phones can equip users to supplement psychiatric treatment and manage their mental health. Mobile Mental…
Today's mobile devices sense, collect, and store huge amounts of personal information, which users share with family and friends through a wide range of applications. Once users give applications access to their data, they must implicitly…
This paper reports a large-scale study that aims to understand how mobile application (app) vulnerabilities are associated with software libraries. We analyze both free and paid apps. Studying paid apps was quite meaningful because it…
Android allows apps to communicate with its system services via system service helpers so that these apps can use various functions provided by the system services. Meanwhile, the system services rely on their service helpers to enforce…
Privacy policies are intended to inform users about how software systems collect and handle data, yet they often remain vague or incomplete. This paper presents an empirical study of patterns in log-related statements within privacy…
Smartphone apps usually have access to sensitive user data such as contacts, geo-location, and account credentials and they might share such data to external entities through the Internet or with other apps. Confidentiality of user data…
With over 3 billion users globally, mobile instant messaging apps have become indispensable for both personal and professional communication. Besides plain messaging, many services implement additional features such as delivery and read…
Instant messaging services are quickly becoming the most dominant form of communication among consumers around the world. Apple iMessage, for example, handles over 2 billion message each day, while WhatsApp claims 16 billion messages from…
The Google Play marketplace has introduced the Data Safety section to improve transparency regarding how mobile applications (apps) collect, share, and protect user data. This mechanism requires developers to disclose privacy and…