As APIs become the integral technology of the Mobile app development, the ability to create secure mobile APIs becomes critical. Matrix Marketers is mobile app development company who has used APIs in several mobile apps and find it convenient to create secure apps.

The mobile devices are always questioned about the security, device as well as applications that run on the smart phone. And as APIs have garnered increased importance with regards to mobile development, the need to create a secure API for that development becomes important as well.

Inherently, all mobile devices are insecure. The mobile app development requires 100% surety on security before registering the app. APIs are an effective way to deliver solutions across multiple platforms — think of Google Maps, one of the most popular API libraries.

The implementation of secure API in an app can be used as:

Data at rest and data in transit. Your API will move data back and forth to the cloud and to devices. The use of HTTPS allows you to secure your data when it is put on a server or accessing the application using client-server architecture.

API keys. Create APIs that require developer registration. The focus for API keys is to lock down and know which apps are using your APIs. Every API uses a unique key for every client.

JWT (JSON Web Token). JWT allows having secure API over the top through a new specification that gives you the tools to create random tokens that can be published to devices.

Mobile app authorization

Selecting a good and appropriate protocol is the first step toward building a secure application. An authorized protocol plays an important role in handling the mobile app related data because it is the entry-point to all of the sensitive data your users may provide you. When considering your choice, think about the answer to these three questions:

• Identity – Who will be directly using the API?
• Authentication – How do you verify end users with the help of API?
• Authorization – Can full access be provided to customers which are their expectation from an app?

An API key can be used to track hits, you can use a simple API key. If you need to verify identity, you can use HTTP Basic authentication with a username and password. To have a higher level of security and controls on identity OAuth flow can be used.

Securing data in transit

Once you’ve selected your authorization scheme, the next concern is in transferring the data safely between the application and the server. For this purpose, you’ll need to use HTTPS with TLS.

Access tokens

So, you’ve got your authentication scheme set up, you’re passing data securely over the wire, and you’re ready for the next step. Matrix Marketers suggest using tools like a JSON Web Token (JWT). JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) Web Tokens are simply JSON objects which are signed using JSON Web Signature (JWS) and/or encrypted using JSON Web Encryption (JWE).

API security tools

You’ll need to know about some incredible companies providing all-in-one security tools, some of the tools are:

• Mashery
• 3Scale
• Apigee
• Restlet

Conclusion

With the above discussion, we can grab initial information to start building API based mobile apps using the best practices for developers to adhere in order to maintain application security to while coding. Hire experienced and professional app developers from Matrix Marketers!