Mobile Penetration Testing

The app on the device is only the client; the real data and business logic live in the backend API. Client-side controls like jailbreak checks and disabled buttons can be bypassed with instrumentation or repackaging, so the security that actually holds is server-side. A mobile pentest is roughly half app and half API for exactly this reason.

A repeatable six-phase process: scoping and threat modelling, static analysis of the app, local storage review, dynamic and network testing, backend API testing, and reporting. Each phase feeds the report, and every finding maps to an OWASP MASVS area so coverage is consistent and provable across any app or platform.

MASVS is the Mobile Application Security Verification Standard, which defines the requirement areas a mobile app should meet, with the MASTG describing how to test each one. Mapping every finding to a MASVS area such as STORAGE, CRYPTO, AUTH, NETWORK, PLATFORM or RESILIENCE makes your report credible and reveals which surfaces you under-tested.

Broken Object Level Authorization is when the server fails to confirm that a requested object belongs to the authenticated user. If changing an invoice ID from 1004 to 1005 returns someone else's invoice, that is BOLA, the mobile-relevant cousin of IDOR. No client-side polish prevents it; the fix is a server-side ownership check on every request.

A signed scope and rules of engagement. The scope names the exact app build, the backend hostnames in play and the test accounts; the rules of engagement set hours, destructive-test limits and data handling. Testing a production API or an out-of-scope third-party host without this authority is unlawful in most jurisdictions.