Mobile Hacking and Security: Android + iOS Ethical Hacking

Explore mobile security importance, threat landscape across app, OS, and network layers; study common vulnerabilities, ethical hacking practices, legal compliance, and pentesting methodologies to defend Android and iOS.

Explore mobile os architecture, a layered design from the application framework to the Linux kernel. Understand art, its aot and jit, odex, garbage collection, and SE Android security.

Analyze iOS architecture from the kernel and OS layers to services and media layers, covering Core Data with SQLite/ORM, Cocoa UI, SwiftUI, code signing, entitlements, sandboxing, and secure enclave.

Explore Android and iOS security concepts, including rooting and jailbreaking risks, kernel exploits, code signing, ASLR, DEP, and sandboxing, with case studies like Stagefright and Pegasus.

Compare Android and iOS boot processes and sandboxing architectures, from bootloader to zygote on Android, to bootrom and springboard on iOS, and explain per-app UID, sandboxing, and entitlements.

Build a hands-on mobile pen testing lab for Android and iOS, mastering tools like adb, Android Studio, emulators, Frida, Burp Suite, MobSF, and dynamic and static analysis.

Explore iOS lab setup for mobile pen testing, comparing real devices, simulators, and cloud options while learning macOS, Xcode, jailbreaking, Frida, Objection, and network analysis tools.

Explore Android dynamic analysis by observing a running app and applying insights on APKs and manifests. Use Frida, Objection, Xposed, and Burp Suite to inspect API calls and runtime vulnerabilities.

Set up a dynamic analysis environment on rooted or jailbroken devices or emulators, install Frida and objection, and configure Burp Suite or MITM proxies with SSL interception and certificates.

Configure the device emulator proxy to Burp Suite, install certificates, and capture http and https traffic with Burp Suite or mitmproxy, bypass ssl pinning with Frida and ssl kill switch.

Learn to reverse engineer an Android APK using apktool and Frida, bypass root detection, and extract a secret key through static and dynamic analysis, SSL pinning workarounds, and base64 decoding.

Bypass SSL pinning with mitmproxy and Frida, inject certs, and load a keystore to disable pin checks, then explore instrumentation and objection for bypassing route detection and unlocking premium features.

Explore Drozer, an open-source Android security testing framework that checks for insecure exported components and reads or writes sensitive data by exploiting exported activities, services, broadcasts, receivers, and content providers.

Set up burpsuite with an emulator to capture https traffic and bypass ssl pinning, then retest interception. Practice dynamic and static analysis with MobSF and Logcat.

Discover android static analysis in mobile pentesting, examining apps without execution and using tools like apktool, dex2jar, and sinar to identify vulnerabilities and misconfigurations.

Explore how apk file structure supports static analysis, including meta-inf signatures, resources, lib, assets, androidmanifest.xml, and dex files, and learn how to decompile and inspect for vulnerabilities.

In Jadx analysis, start the device, install the APK, inspect androidmanifest.xml and resources, review signatures, then decompile to study the main activity and retrieve the flag via logcat.

Perform decompilation analysis of an android apk using APK tool, Dex to jar, and grep to inspect AndroidManifest.xml, smali code, and resources for static security insights.

Explores advanced static analysis of Android APKs, reconstructing Dalvik code flow, detecting cryptographic functions, insecure storage, and vulnerabilities in native libraries using tools like decompilers and Androguard.

Explore iOS static analysis by inspecting IPA files and app bundles without execution, using Class Dump, Ghidra, Mob SF, and iPhone box to expose misconfigurations and sensitive data.

Learn how to inspect iOS Info.plist files, view and convert plist data, and identify permissions, entitlements, and sensitive configurations such as app transport security and URL schemes for security assessments.

Explore static analysis and reverse engineering of iOS binaries using Ghidra and class-dump, and learn to inspect Objective-C headers, exported functions, and the secret string.

Identify sensitive information exposures in Android and iOS apps by inspecting hard coded API keys, URLs, tokens, and debug logs in binaries, payloads, and configuration files.

Explore basic iOS static analysis using IPA files, payload inspection, and Info.plist reading to uncover API keys and sensitive data, then study binary protections and anti reversing techniques.

Identify issues in mobile vulnerability reports, include proof-of-concept evidence, and assign CVSS scores with remediation recommendations. Practice iOS static analysis, POC writing, and reporting for secure development.

Learn how iOS dynamic analysis builds on static analysis to study an app's runtime behavior using instrumentation, hooking, and debugging. Explore traffic interception, SSL pinning bypass, and anti-debugging challenges.

Explore Frida, a dynamic instrumentation toolkit, to inject scripts and hook functions, and use Objection with the Mobile Exploration Framework to bypass SSL pinning and inspect network traffic.

Learn iOS app reverse engineering from decompiling an IPA to patching binaries, bypassing anti-tampering and jailbreak checks, using Ghidra, radare2, and Frida in a hands-on workflow.

Explore how objection streamlines dynamic analysis with a ready-to-use cli for bypassing ssl pinning, exploring app file systems, and dumping keychain data, complemented by lldb and gdb debugging techniques.

Monitor network traffic to reveal how iOS apps communicate with backend APIs. Use Burp Suite and Charles Proxy to intercept traffic, bypass SSL pinning, and inspect API requests and responses.

Explore dynamic analysis to bypass jailbreak detection and SSL pinning in iOS apps, using Frida and Objection to intercept traffic and inspect memory and tokens.

Explore mobile malware and reverse engineering basics, defining mobile malware, its objectives: data theft, surveillance, and financial fraud, and its global impact on mobile security and forensics.

Explore types of mobile malware, including spyware such as Pegasus, trojans, adware, banking trojans, and ransomware, and learn how to tackle them using reverse engineering tools.

Examine famous mobile malware cases, from Judy and Xcodeghost to Pegasus and Anubis, exploring infection vectors, zero-day exploits, and case-study methods across Android and iOS.

Learn reverse engineering basics to analyze mobile malware, uncover hidden behavior, and document core stages—unpacking, decompiling, analyzing, and documenting—within ethical, permission-based lab work.

Learn a practical mobile reverse engineering workflow, including safe sample acquisition, unpacking apk/ipa, static decompilation with Ghidra and apktool, and documenting findings for malware defense.

Advance from offense to defense by summarizing mobile security lessons, emphasizing secure coding, app hardening, and OWASP MSDS guidance to secure Android and iOS apps.

Discover the OWASP MASVS framework for mobile security, detailing structured requirements for authentication, storage, cryptography, and network security to strengthen Android and iOS apps.

Learn app hardening techniques to deter reverse engineering by obfuscating code and complicating deobfuscation. Implement anti-debugging, integrity checks, and jailbreak/root detection to limit execution on compromised devices.

Secure storage by avoiding plain text, applying SSL/TLS, and using Android Keystore or iOS keychain, then encrypting files with AES-256 and removing debug logs before release.

Learn to implement multi-factor authentication, securely manage tokens and sessions, and use biometrics with strong fallbacks, while avoiding hardcoded keys and applying secure coding practices.

Analyze case studies on Snapchat token leaks, WhatsApp zero-click exploits, and banking SSL validation failures to learn API security, secure coding, patching, and certificate validation.

Use industry standard cryptography such as aes, rsa, or ecc; avoid custom or outdated algorithms and enforce tls 1.2 plus for all network communication, with certificate pinning where possible.

Validate all inputs on both client and server; sanitize and use parameterized queries. Apply strict API security with least-privilege endpoints, rate limiting, and robust authentication.

Create a security checklist covering secure data storage, encryption at rest and in transit, certificate pinning, and strong authentication, then reinforce secure coding, SDLC, and OWASP for Android and iOS.