Jail break detection- the process of securing your apps from unauthorized access
Apple is known to pose certain restrictions on an app that cannot be installed on a device. It means that no app can gain access to information without being given authorization. This would restrict the potential of an app due to limited administrative rights provided by Apple. The concept of Jail break detection will allow a person to bypass the licensing requirements to gain critical administrative rights. This would enable the hacker
- Remove any restrictions, on applications and software by manufacturers. It would allow the installation of devices on jailbreak devices that may not be used otherwise.
- Removing or replacing any setting, file, or app in itself
- Use cheats and hacks for games
- In-app purchases and paid apps are for free.
- Installation or tweaks of apps via the aid of unofficial stores that is available on the iPhone and I Jailbreak devices.
For an IOS developer, it may be necessary to jail break the Apple device be testing the apps. Installation of software on devices and have an idea about the security levels of the app. You can obtain more information from platforms like AppSealing. It would be prudent to have an idea of how jail breaking could be threatening developers like yourself. It is easy for a penetrator to bypass all networks along with money to be put into developing an app.
The question is how you may be able to protect your apps from jail breaking. At this point in time jail break detection becomes an easy task.
More about jail break detection
Jail break detection turns out to be a process where it is possible to figure out whether an app is operational on a jail break device or not. Though it may turn out to be a relatively easy procedure, IOS detection for jail break does not turn out to be a straightforward task as it may seem. There are several complex processes and operations in a jail break device, which is not present in a regular device. Such differences may be put to use for jail break detection.
Hackers resort to all sorts of methods when it comes to jail breaking devices. There are also various types of jails, everyone would be having a different method for detecting the same. Even the methods of detection do change over time indicating that the moment a jail detects the status of the device, the next time they would be rebooting the device. Even with the version of IOS jail breaking methods are subject to change, as it would be difficult to predict what would be the method of detection.
A key pointer with IOS detection is having an idea if the app may ask for a lot of resources and by Apple operating system it would be asking a lot of resources. On jail broken devices the app would be searching for various other types of application.
The detection methods of jail break
Numerous methods are there that may prevent jail breaks. Some of the methods are simple and could be bypassed by the hackers. Though there are other complex ones that are going to take some amount of time to bypass. Let s dig deep into a few methods below
Booting
It is a form of IOS detection that may be found on all platforms. The moment you go on to start or reboot a device the software will be checking whether all processes, data, and apps are in accordance with the guidelines of Apple or be it a privacy policy. This turns out to be a mandatory type of jail break method.
Any form of an app that is not consistent with the administrative rules of Apple may not be allowed to function. This could be the reason why some of the apps need to bypass jail break detection methods every time they are operational on a jail break device.
File system
The data along with files that is part of the system needs to be stored in appropriate places with specific names. If any device happens to be jail broken there is bound to be a change in the files stored. You can rename or remove them. Such change in the system would detect any form of jail breaking in the device. Normally jail breaking devices are known to create some type of extra files in the system.
Preventing jail breaks
Being an IOS developer, for preventing IOS jail breaks there are some things that may be done at your level. Once jail break is detected the following are some of the actions that you can take
- The app may be shut down with a notice, indicating that the device would be jail broken. So the app will not be able to function on the same
- The app may shut down silently without giving any notice to a user
- The app may function normally without the intervention of jail break devices. This could turn out to be a really difficult task to execute than the other options. Though you cannot term it to be an impossible task.
To sum up things in itself Jail break is not something that may be illegal. But the reasons for using jail breaking may turn out to be a serious threat for all those people who happen to be using the device. Being an app developer jail break may compromise the security of your device, more so if the app is known to be storing sensitive information like bank details. So for security purposes, it is suggested that you prevent jail breaking.
For IOS solutions Appsealing is a security module. Not only it would be providing protection against jail break devices or integrity protection, ensuring that the application code is not something that would be tampered with. The platform is also known to provide anti- debugging along with anti- trace capabilities, indicating no one can find any form of errors with the app.