75% of India’s Top 100 Android Apps Have Contained Security Risks: Appknox Report 2022

Appknox, a leading mobile security testing platform has released a report today, titled, “Evidence-based Insights – India’s Top 100 Android Mobile Apps tested for Cybersecurity”. Over the past few years, our dependencies on apps have increased tremendously. These apps have access to so much sensitive data, Appknox helps businesses and customers understand the security risk. 

According to research by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), India's cyber security industry nearly quadrupled during the pandemic, with revenues from cyber security goods and services rising from $5.04 billion in 2019 to $9.85 billion in 2021. Rapid digitalization, more regulatory attention on data and privacy, and growing boardroom understanding of cyber dangers, among other factors, all contributed to the surge. Given the buzz and awareness for cybersecurity, it becomes essential to perform reality checks and analyse where the Indian Android App market stars stand in terms of cybersecurity performance. 

In this report, Appknox presents the mobile security assessment report of the Top 100 android mobile app. Here’s why the company chose 100 Indian Apps:

India is now the #1 country globally regarding the number of apps installed and usage per month (Source: Forbes). With one of the largest user bases and the volume of critical data at risk, it becomes essential to assess the security performance of some of the most popular and trusted Indian apps.

Appknox put all the 100 applications through a rigorous automated testing process using Appknox, our mobile app security solution. As a part of this security testing process, each application went through 14 different test cases. According to security standards accepted globally, all these tests are the basic security checks that each mobile application should ideally go through. These checks help determine essential parameters like how data is being stored by the app, how much is shared and accessible, are payments secure, is there a possible loophole that can lead to data leakages, and more.

Harshit Agarwal, CEO of Appknox said, “Be it the early birds or the giant Fortune 500 companies, Appknox has ever been instrumental in building a safe and secure mobile ecosystem for businesses all over the globe by utilizing its system plus human approach to beat the hackers at their own game. We put together this report so that app developers realize the importance of creating apps with no vulnerabilities.”

What were the Most Prominent Vulnerabilities Detected in these Apps?

The research found that some of the most prominent Indian apps lag on even the most basic security checks. Some of the critical vulnerabilities detected in these apps included:

1. 79% of the Apps were affected by Network Security Misconfiguration: Organisations should keep the minimum information necessary. If eBay wouldn’t have stored unnecessary information like dates of birth and addresses, the risk of identity theft after the attack would have reduced massively.

2. 79% of the Apps had Disabled SSL CA Validation and Certificate Pinning:  Certificate Pinning is the process of associating a host with their expected X509 certificate or public key. When a certificate or public key is seen on a host, it is associated or "pinned" to that host. Suppose more than one certificate or public key is acceptable. In this case, the advertised identity must match one of the elements in the pinset.

3. 78% of the Apps lacked sufficient code obfuscation: Java source code is typically compiled into Java bytecode – the instruction set of the Java virtual machine. The compiled Java bytecode can be easily reverse-engineered back into source code by freely available decompilers. Bytecode Obfuscation is the process of modifying Java bytecode (executable or library) so that it is much harder to read and understand for a hacker but remains fully functional. Insufficient obfuscation might lead to threat actors decompiling or reverse-engineering the code.

4. 42% of the Apps had Insufficient Transport Layer Protection: Insufficient transport layer protection issues happen when the data is sent from the mobile app to the server over unsecured channels. Whether the data is transmitted through the carrier network or WiFi, it will end up through the Internet before it can reach the remote server. Insufficient transport layer protection issues happen when the data is sent from the mobile app to the server over unsecured channels. Whether the data is transmitted through the carrier network or WiFi, it will end up through the Internet before it can reach the remote server.

Some Mobile App Security Best Practices to Mitigate these Risks:

Mobile applications must be created in a manner to run in a hostile environment prone to frequent attacks. And given the widespread vulnerabilities detected in Indian Android apps, it's high time businesses adopt these mobile app security best practices.

Do Not Hardcode Credentials: It has frequently been seen that available credentials are put to hardcore by mobile app developers. Also, rather than waiting for users to authenticate credentials for applications, here credentials and services used by the applications are put to authentication.

Reduce App Permissions: Permissions empower apps, but this also creates many risks. Unnecessary permissions, even in a legitimate app, can result in causing privacy and compliance hazards and become a target for attackers.

Certificate Pinning Should be Used Wherever Possible:  Mobile applications get connected from unsecured networks rather than from protected web applications most of the time. This is certainly because these apps are always used on the go. One of the best techniques to counter attacks such as man-in-the-middle attacks that can occur over these networks are through certificate pinning.

Switch to Automated Mobile Application Security Testing: Enterprises should conduct regular security testing on the application to prevent vulnerabilities present in the application and ensure best coding practices that are secure as well.

Maintain Compliance With Standards and Regulations: Ensure your app complies with the leading industry standards like OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) , PCI DSS ( Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), and ISO:27001. This would enhance the security readiness of your app and strengthen the trust among your customers.

Upgrade to DevSecOps: DevSecOps lets you address security issues right from the get-go with little to no effort in addressing every security issue that causes potential risks. This could also be your business's potential competitive advantage for faster time to market and uninterrupted business activities.

Appknox offers one of the most advanced plug-and-play security solutions embedded with astute vulnerability assessment and penetration testing tools that help security experts and developers build the safest mobile applications. Appknox SAST (Static application security testing), DAST (Dynamic application security testing), and APIT (Application Program Interface Testing) is the best way to ensure that your code is secure. VA (Vulnerability Assessment) tools identify and eliminate security vulnerabilities and software defects early in development. That helps to ensure that your software is secure, reliable, and compliant.

Appknox VA helps you:

Identify and analyze security risks and prioritize severity based on the CVSS(Common Vulnerability Scoring System) reporting

Perform real-time fast and API to further down on the vulnerabilities

Fulfill standard compliance requirements

Verify and validate through testing

Achieve compliance and get certified faster

About Appknox:

Founded in 2014 by Harshit Agarwal and Subho Halder, Appknox is a leading mobile security testing platform. Headquartered in Singapore and Bangalore, Appknox today is one of the most powerful plug-and-play security platforms which enables developers, security researchers, and enterprises to build safe and secure mobile ecosystems using a system plus human approach. With its VAPT solutions (Vulnerability Assessment & Penetration Testing), Appknox has provided end-to-end mobile application security and testing strategies to over 500 businesses & Enterprises globally. Appknox has also enabled some of the top government agencies with its On-Premises deployments. A champion of Value SaaS, Appknox has been recognized by Gartner as one of the recommended mobile app security vendors in its 2021 Application security Hype Cycle report.

Huawei Unveils A New Optical Vision To Help Operators Achieve Business Success

Recently, at the 9th Huawei Optical Innovation Forum, Huawei unveiled its new vision for optical transport networks — "? to Everywhere, Premium Connectivity Lighting Up the Digital World". This new vision focuses on bringing the optical transport network (OTN) to edge nodes to provide ubiquitous premium connectivity and build green and simplified optical networks, helping operators achieve business success.

The new vision includes three key messages:

Premium connectivity: As industry digitalization drives the rapid growth of the premium private line market, there are ever-increasing requirements for high bandwidth, low latency, high reliability, and short time to market (TTM). To meet such requirements, OTN provides deterministic premium connectivity.

Green and simplified architecture: OTN is deployed at the edge of the metro network to support integrated access of all services and implement one-hop connection to the cloud. This network features low TCO and power consumption as well as flattened architecture.

Ultra-broadband: OTN uses the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technology to provide 100 Tbit/s bandwidth over each optical fiber.

As a leader in the global optical network industry, Huawei continuously develops new technologies to keep up with industry trends and meet ever-changing requirements. Huawei has launched green pluggable 400G and high-performance 400G modules to promote the large-scale commercial use of 400G in various scenarios. Huawei also released the industry's first single-wavelength 1.6T technology, which has been tested in Germany. In addition, Huawei's ultra-broadband spectrum Super C120+L120 doubles the available spectrum. These technological innovations signify historic breakthroughs in the optical transport field.

Huawei constantly develops new and innovative products to meet operators' service requirements. In 2017, Huawei launched the industry's first all-optical switching (OXC) solution, with more than 3000 sets of OXC devices having been deployed worldwide to date. This year, Huawei launched the Blade OXC solution to help operators build green and simplified networks. Huawei's compact Edge OTN solution drives OTN to edge, achieving simple deployment and one-stop access for all services. Huawei's innovative OTN point-to-multipoint (P2MP) solution can reduce costs and improve efficiency, helping operators build inclusive OTN premium private lines.

Every year, Huawei increases its investment in the optical field in order to maintain technological leadership. At the 9th Huawei Optical Innovation Forum, Victor Zhou, President of Huawei's Transmission Network Product Line, said, "Huawei has remained committed to strategic investment and technological innovation in the optical communications field for many years, empowering operators to build ubiquitous premium connectivity. OTN is used to connect data centers and deployed downwards to COs, sites, campuses, and buildings to enable the digital transformation of various industries, thereby achieving the vision of '? to Everywhere, Premium Connectivity Lighting Up the Digital World'."

About Huawei

Founded in 1987, Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. We have 195,000 employees and we operate in more than 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world.

Our vision and mission is to bring digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world. To this end, we will work towards ubiquitous connectivity and inclusive network access, laying the foundation for an intelligent world; provide diversified computing power where you need it, when you need it, to bring cloud and intelligence to all four corners of the earth; build digital platforms to help all industries and organizations become more agile, efficient, and dynamic; and redefine user experience with AI, making it smarter and more personalized for people in all aspects of their life, whether they're at home, on the go, in the office, having fun, or working out. For more information, please visit Huawei online at www.huawei.com or follow us on:

http://www.linkedin.com/company/Huawei

Vi Business Launches ‘Ready For Next’ Program To Help MSMEs Thrive In Their Digital Journey

·        On World MSME Day, announces benefit worth of Rs. 20,000 across varied product offerings to address digital gaps

·         To empower 2.5 Lakh MSMEs stay securely connected in digital business environment

·         Provides suite of solutions - Integrated IoT, Cloud Managed Services, Cloud Telephony solutions and Business Plus Plans

Post-pandemic business impact, excessive liquidity crunch and tectonic shift has made MSMEs vulnerable.  Keeping these challenges in mind on the occasion of World MSME Day, Vi Business, the enterprise arm of India’s leading telecom operator Vodafone Idea (Vi), today announced the launch of Ready for Next, a special program curated to help the MSMEs accelerate their growth potential.  

Digital Adoption has become one of the most important factors in opening up new business prospects. Simultaneously, digitally securing the business is crucial in the new era of remote working. Vi Business Ready for Next program therefore is built on the philosophy of handholding the MSMEs in their entire digital journey. This curated program will serve all possible needs and requirements of MSMEs that will enable them to grow at a much faster pace. 

RFN_unit_with_ViBusiness

Commenting on the initiative, Arvind Nevatia, Chief Enterprise Business Officer, Vodafone Idea said “MSMEs are the backbone of India’s economy, contributing 30% to the GDP. We recognise the key role that small businesses play in fostering new ideas and enabling a Digital India. Dynamic innovation needs specific solutions, strong technology support and trusted partners for sustainable growth. The ReadyForNext Program is our commitment to MSMEs to provide long-term solutions that will help them move ahead and build a better tomorrow. It is aimed to simplify their decision making process and help them identify the right focus, direction and solutions for their business, to be ready for tomorrow. We expect this program to be a game changer that will empower 250,000 MSMEs to fast track growth.”

Vi Business ReadyForNext program comprises of two elements: Digital Self Evaluation and Exclusive MSME Offers.

·         ReadyForNext Digital Evaluation: Vi Business in association with Dun & Bradstreet, has developed a platform which helps MSMEs access their digital readiness, identify gaps and required steps to become a future ready organisation. The ‘ReadyForNext’ evaluation process helps the business owners assess their setup across three aspects: Digital Customer, Digital Workspace and Digital Business. This breakup will present their preparedness and respective industry scenario in terms of customer-facing and servicing aspects, workforce and infrastructure monitoring aspects, and business data and network security aspects. In addition, it will also provide recommendations on next steps to be taken for their digital transformation journey. The customers can access this platform on https://www.myvi.in/business/enterprise-segments/smb/msme-readyfornext

·         ReadyForNext Exclusive MSME Offers: The program is built on three pillars- Engage, Grow and Secure. The program offers specialised solutions to engage with their customer base, grow their business and maintain a digitally secure business environment. Enabling a healthy environment for collaboration, Vi Business is extending a value benefit worth Rs. 20,000 and more for MSMEs to adopt digital solutions.

Arya.ag Crosses INR 500 Crore Milestone On Its Fintech Platform

* India’s largest agritech player, records over 3X growth on its digital agri-lending book in the last six months

Arya.ag, India’s largest and fastest-growing integrated grain commerce platform, today announced crossing the distinct milestone of reaching the INR 500 crore book outstanding on its embedded fintech platform, Aryadhan.

This feat is propelled by Arya.ag’s indigenously built digital capabilities, which have been customised for simplified and optimum use by smallholder farmers and farmer producer organisations (FPOs). With immediate access to finance, farmers, FPOs, and other stakeholders in the value chain can tide over any liquidity requirements and fend off any distressed sale scenarios after harvest.

Arya.ag’s technology stack built on IoT, analytics, AI, and ML enables minimal transaction costs and lower interest rates for borrowers while expediting the turnaround time (TAT) for loan disbursements. Today, Aryadhan is the largest NBFC in Warehouse Receipt Finance (WRF), distinguished by its deep outreach to farmers and FPOs. Its unique phygital model is especially relevant in near farm locations where banks are largely averse to lending citing risk considerations. 

The salient features of Arya.ag’s digital lending services to farmers include:

o    Faster processing with 95 percent of transactions processed within 20 minutes

o    Market linkages with thousands of traders on board across 350+ locations

o    Highest order of transparency with all information easily and readily available on handheld device of the farmer

o    Arya.ag’s digital lending comes with best-in-class rates with no hidden charges 

o    Another unique proposition of Arya.ag’s digital lending services is that farmers need to pay only for the exact number of days for which the loan is availed 

Arya.ag’s value proposition continues to find increased relevance with Agri stakeholders. The platform saw a sharp rise in its loan book from INR 142 crore in December 2021. Having disbursed over INR 1200 crore so far, the platform has managed to maintain immaculate asset quality with near-zero NPA levels. 

Recently, Arya.ag further consolidated its bouquet of digital lending offerings by introducing industry-first and revolutionary Insta-Loan and Insta-Release products. Arya.ag’s Insta-Loan allows a farmer to avail a loan instantly against her stored commodity at her discretion from the comfort and convenience of her home. The Insta-Release product enables farmers to have immediate access to their stocks upon payment of loans for further sale. Today, in a market that is adapting to digital solutions, 98% of all of Arya.ag’s loans are released digitally. 

About Arya.ag

Arya.ag, India’s largest and fastest-growing integrated grain commerce platform that eliminates the trust deficit in the grain commerce value chain through its disruptive integrated PAN India platform that delivers value to all stakeholders by enabling access to high-quality produce, products, and services. Powered by an exponentially growing layer of visibility and control currently stretching across 425 districts in 21 states, 10,000 warehouses and USD 2 billion of grain, Arya.ag offers the assurance of quality supply to buyers and on-time fair payment for their produce and allied services to seller. It seamlessly embeds finance to maximize value for both sellers and buyers and the platform facilitates over USD 700 Mn of finance annually. More at www.arya.ag

Emirates Group Invites IT Talent In Bengaluru To Join Its Digital Revolution In Aviation

Emirates Group, which comprises Emirates airline and global air services provider dnata, is looking for IT specialists who are ambitious, service-driven and eager to help drive the future of the digital revolution in aviation. Successful candidates can look forward to a high-flying career with exciting opportunities in an open and agile environment, while being part of a global aviation and travel company that has innovation at the core of its culture. 

Aside from its own internal programmes, the Group also invests in industry partnerships, and transformative technology programmes such as the Aviation X-Lab in partnership with GE, Airbus, Thales, and Collins Aerospace; and Intelak in partnership with Accenture, Microsoft, Dubai Tourism and Amadeus. The company is based in Dubai, a city known for its entrepreneurial spirit and forward-thinking policies that is laying the ground to become the next global tech hub.

Prospective candidates interested to join the Group’s dynamic technology team can view and apply for a range of roles on its careers website https://www.emiratesgroupcareers.com/search-and-apply/?jobcategory=information-technology , and shortlisted applicants will be invited to assessment days which are planned in Bengaluru in July. The aviation and travel company is seeking IT professionals who have experience in designing, developing, and integrating systems and business solutions across a range of disciplines including: Agile Delivery, Software and Quality Engineering and Cybersecurity among others. 

The Emirates Group offers candidates outstanding career opportunities, with excellent training facilities and a broad range of development programmes. Employees enjoy a competitive employment package which includes a variety of benefits such as a tax-free salary, accommodation allowance, excellent medical cover as well role-specific benefits such as eligibility for the Emirates Group Profit Share scheme, education support and pension scheme among others. Emirates’ growing global network offers many travel opportunities across the airline’s six continents-spanning network. The staff enjoys attractive concessional travel benefits for themselves as well as their families to all destinations that the airline flies to.  

About Emirates

Emirates’ 36 years in India have been defined by progressive investment, partnership and growth. In October 1985, Emirates launched flights from Dubai to Delhi and Mumbai which formed the base of its initial route network. Since then, Emirates has grown its India operations to serve a total of nine destinations across India – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Thiruvananthapuram. For more information on Emirates’ current operations, network, travel support, guidance, customer and employee safety, visit www.emirates.com

NDDB & KOF Inks MoU With University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore For Sunflower Seed Production In Karnataka

The National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) & Karnataka Cooperative Oilseeds Growers’ Federation Ltd (KOF) inked an MoU with University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore (UAS-Bangalore) and Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research, Hyderabad for large scale sunflower hybrid seed production in Karnataka. This agreement is aimed at paving the way for licensing sunflower hybrid KBSH-41 for commercialisation.

Sushri Shobha Karandlaje, Hon'ble Minister of State for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India graced the occasion as Chief Guest. Shri BC Patil, Hon’ble Minister for Agriculture, Govt of Karnataka was the Guest of Honour. Shri Annasaheb Shankar Jolle, MP (Lok Sabha) & Chairman, KOF, Shri Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB and Dr S Rajendra Prasad, Vice-Chancellor, UAS-Bangalore were also present.

In her address, Sushri Karandlaje said that this momentous occasion is a right step towards Atmanirbharta in edible oil. She sought NDDB’s intervention in reducing country’s reliance on imported edible oil and applauded Board’s intent to help the oilseed sector. The Hon’ble Union Minister said that availability of credible sources of hybrid seeds has become a big lacuna. She appreciated the joint efforts of NDDB and KOF to take up commercial production of successful sunflower hybrid seeds so that farmers get superior seeds.

Shri Patil said that that increase in MSP by the Government of India has enthused farmers towards sunflower production in Karnataka. The compulsion to rapidly increase domestic edible oil production is an opportunity to improve livelihoods of small and marginal farmers.

Chairman, NDDB said that in the 80s, NDDB was involved in setting up edible oil cooperatives under Operation Golden Flow. The Dairy Board is re-engaging itself. This is a small but critical first step towards supporting the Government’s initiative in attaining self-sufficiency, Atmanirbharta in edible oils. NDDB and KOF will encourage farmers to take up sunflower as a preferred crop by making available high-quality seeds at reasonable prices. NDDB will work with KOF for production of 5000 quintals of hybrid sunflower seeds in Rabi 2022 – enough for sowing in about one lakh hectare. This will be further scaled up in Karnataka and also replicated in other states.

Shri Jolle conveyed that NDDB has already initiated a number of measures to support KOF. He further said that considering the Ukraine crisis, there is a huge shortage of sunflower oil. This has led to higher prices of sunflower seeds. Our farmers can restart sunflower seed production to earn profits.

Dr Prasad said that NDDB and KOF have approached UAS-B for commercial production of successful sunflower hybrid seeds. Thus, the agreement will re-initiate large scale Sunflower hybrid seed production.

Wion To LaunchNnew Docu-Series ‘Inside Xi’s China’ - The Great Game Plan Shortly

* With its fact-led and objective approach, the first-of-its-kind 10-episode series will highlight the struggles and global aspirations of Modern China

WION, India’s international news channel is scheduled to launch its first-of-its-kind ten-episode documentary series ‘ Inside Xi’s China’ which charts the rise of China as a Global Superpower. Each of the 30-minute episodes will not only highlight the struggles of the country, but is also a visual journey of the global aspirations, its flourishing economy, lifestyle changes of its population, the world’s perception of China, etc. The teaser of the upcoming docu-series is LIVE on Youtube.

Wion’s ‘Inside Xi’s China’, will be accessible, on linear as well as digital platforms, on Indian and Global feeds. Each of the episodes is written keeping in mind the dictatorship pattern and the historic relevance of ‘The People’s Republic of China’ and aims to become a reliable source of facts. The docu-series is being promoted across its electronics channel, print, social and digital platforms.

As WION is well-known for its in-depth analysis of global issues, this docu-series will not only highlight the global aspirations but will allow viewers to experience the journey of China from the times of Mao Zedong to China in modern terms. This well-researched approach will boost the curiosity amongst trade unions, potential stakeholders as well as viewers spread across globe. 

Speaking of the launch of this unique documentary series with a fact-led approach, Sudhir Chaudhary, CEO & Editor in Chief of WION, says, "Wion has been neutral and non-biased towards the reportage of politics and other relevant news across the globe. As our audience look up to us as a trustworthy news source partner, we aim to present the facts of China’s struggle and economic success through a visual series that could cater to all age groups. “ 

“The news consumption and communication patterns have been evolving with time. We, at WION strongly believe that facts can be presented by adopting a new innovative approach, which can further be an eye-opener to the end consumers. This visual journey divided into 10 episodes will help in ensuring the right information reaches a wider range of audiences who are unaware of the reality of China,” highlighted Palki Sharma Upadhyay, Managing Editor, WION news. 

The YouTube channel of WION News has received over 352 million views, surpassing international media channels such as CNN, BBC, and Aljazeera. The channel has also way ahead of many Indian English News channels such as India Today, NDTV, and Times Now. 

About Zee Media corporation limited

About Zee Media Corporation Limited: Zee Media Corporation Limited (formerly Zee News Ltd.) is India's one of the largest News Network with 14 news channels in 8 different languages touching more than 410 Million viewers and digital properties like Zeenews.com, dnaindia.com, India.com and others catering to over 220Million users.