Did you know that by the end of 2023, almost 70 percent of the world’s population were smartphone users? Google App Store does not have such rigorous security requirements, so sensitive user data such as GPS locations, contact lists, and email addresses can be compromised. One type of testing that can increase users' trust in your application is penetration testing. Today, we will review the 7 best Android penetration testing tools and explain their key features. Let’s begin!
Why is Android penetration testing important?
Here are some key reasons why Android penetration testing is important:
- Identification of vulnerabilities: Pinpoints weaknesses in Android apps and devices.
- Prevention of data breaches: Stops breaches, safeguarding user info.
- Protection against malware: Detects and blocks malicious software threats.
- Compliance requirements: Meets industry standards for security.
- Enhanced reputation and trust: Builds user confidence through security commitment.
- Cost savings: Saves money by preventing breaches and associated damages.
7 Best Android penetration testing tools
1. zAnti – “Mobile Penetration Testing Toolkit & Risk Assessment”
zAnti is a mobile penetration testing toolkit designed for security managers to assess network risk levels effortlessly. It allows IT Security Administrators to simulate attacks and identify techniques used by cyber attackers to compromise corporate networks.
Key features
Some of the key features highlighted on the zAnti website are:
- Network scanning: Conducts scans at various intensity levels to identify connected devices, their properties, and vulnerabilities.
- Diagnosis: Evaluates networks and diagnoses vulnerabilities in mobile devices and websites using tests like MITM, password cracking, and Metasploit.
- Reporting: Highlights security gaps and reports results with advanced cloud-based reporting through zConsole, providing actionable insights to fix critical security issues.
- Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attack simulation: Monitors insecure data transmission from devices to the web during a MITM attack.
- Vulnerability scanning: Identifies risky properties of connected devices, such as OS version, open ports, and network IP/MAC addresses.
- Data storage and reporting: Stores all scanned network and security data and allows for the generation and sending of comprehensive security reports.
2. PortSwigger – “Best-in-class software and learning for security engineers and penetration testers.”
PortSwigger's Burp Suite is a toolkit designed for penetration testers to identify vulnerabilities efficiently. It combines powerful features and extensions with an industry-leading vulnerability scanner to enhance the penetration testing workflow.
Key features
Some of the key features highlighted on the PortSwigger website are:
- Comprehensive vulnerability scanning: Uses advanced techniques to identify vulnerabilities in modern applications, including JavaScript-heavy SPAs and APIs.
- Enhanced testing workflow: Offers 200+ extensions, faster brute-forcing and fuzzing, and deep manual testing capabilities to streamline and accelerate penetration testing processes.
- Smart automation: Integrates automation with manual tools to optimize workflows, saving time while maintaining thoroughness in testing.
- Community and learning resources: Provides access to the collective knowledge of a large user community and free learning materials through the Web Security Academy to develop pen testing skills.
- Minimized false positives: Utilizes ultra-reliable out-of-band application security testing (OAST) to detect otherwise invisible issues, including blind and asynchronous vulnerabilities.
3. Tenable – “Comprehensive Cybersecurity and Exposure Management”
Tenable offers advanced cybersecurity solutions that combine automated vulnerability assessments with penetration testing to identify and mitigate weaknesses in an organization's attack surface. The Tenable One Platform, including Nessus Professional, provides comprehensive and accurate scanning capabilities to enhance security practices.
Key features
Some of the key features highlighted on the Tenable website are:
- Active scanning: Nessus Professional conducts thorough scans to identify vulnerabilities in web applications and other assets, complementing existing penetration testing practices.
- Automated vulnerability assessments: Quickly pinpoints areas requiring focus, allowing penetration testers to demonstrate potential exploits and provide remediation solutions.
- Offline assessments: Supports offline vulnerability assessments with Live Results, ensuring continuous monitoring and alerting for suspicious activities, even for assets not connected to the internet.
- Comprehensive coverage: With over 140,000 plugins covering over 50,000 CVEs, Tenable provides extensive and up-to-date vulnerability scanning, releasing new plugins weekly.
- High accuracy: Nessus achieves six-sigma accuracy with the lowest false positive rate in the industry, ensuring reliable vulnerability detection and prioritization.
4. Astra Pentest – “The Next-gen Penetration Testing Platform”
Astra Pentest provides penetration testing services to identify and fix security vulnerabilities, ensuring businesses comply with international standards and build customer trust. Astra combines automated scanning with expert human support to deliver thorough, actionable security assessments.
Key features
Some of the key features highlighted on the Astra Pentest website are:
- Collaborative dashboard: Allows seamless collaboration among team members, CXOs, and security experts to track progress and manage vulnerabilities effectively.
- Comprehensive scanner: Utilizes an intelligent scanner to detect issues often missed by other pentests, including DAST, SAST, and business logic testing.
- Industry-recognized certificate: Provides a security certificate upon completing the pentest, enhancing trust among customers and partners.
- Real-time expert support: Offers immediate support from security experts through the dashboard to help fix any issues identified during the pentest.
- Compliance readiness: Covering all essential security tests ensures businesses are prepared for ISO 27001, HIPAA, SOC2, and GDPR compliance.
5. Intruder – “Outsmart the hackers.”
Intruder provides penetration testing services to help organizations identify and fix security vulnerabilities before real hackers can exploit them. Their team conducts thorough security assessments to ensure compliance with standards and improve the security of web applications, APIs, cloud configurations, and external infrastructure.
Key features
Some of the key features highlighted on the Intruder website are:
- Qualified security specialists: Intruder's testers are accredited by leading security bodies such as CREST, ensuring top-notch technical expertise and professionalism.
- API penetration testing: Conducts thorough API tests following OWASP guidelines to uncover weaknesses like authentication issues and injection attacks.
- Cloud configuration reviews: Evaluates cloud infrastructures for misconfigurations, providing recommendations to enhance security and prevent breaches.
- Continuous penetration testing: It offers Intruder Vanguard, a hybrid vulnerability management service led by certified security professionals that continuously identifies high-risk vulnerabilities.
6. Indusface – “API, Mobile App & Website Penetration Testing”
Indusface offers penetration testing services for APIs, mobile apps, and websites, helping organizations identify and fix security vulnerabilities. Indusface combines automated scanning with manual assessments to provide deep and thorough security evaluations.
Key features
Some of the key features highlighted on the Indusface website are:
- API penetration testing: Utilizes the "Infinite API Scanner" and manual assessments to secure APIs, covering protocols like RESTful APIs, SOAP services, GraphQL, and WebSocket APIs, and addressing OWASP API Top 10 vulnerabilities.
- Mobile app penetration testing: Conducts over 150 assessments for iOS, Android, and hybrid platforms, focusing on OWASP Mobile Top 10 and business logic vulnerabilities to ensure robust security across all mobile applications.
- Website penetration testing: Provides detailed security assessments for websites, from frontend interfaces to backend databases, adhering to industry standards such as OWASP Top 10, SANS 25, and WASC 25.
- Dynamic application security testing (DAST): Offers automated website security scanning, malware scanning, and infrastructure scanning through Indusface WAS, allowing users to schedule auto-scans and receive remediation guidelines for identified vulnerabilities.
7. Fortra – “Your Cybersecurity Ally™”
Fortra specializes in IBM i penetration testing to identify and exploit security vulnerabilities, ensuring data security and compliance with standards such as PCI DSS. Their team provides thorough assessments using commercial-grade tools to help organizations address and remediate potential threats.
Key features
Some of the key features highlighted on the Fortra website are:
- Vulnerability identification: Researches, tests, and identifies potential vulnerabilities specific to IBM I systems, providing a tailored approach to each organization’s security needs.
- Vulnerability validation and exploitation: Validates identified vulnerabilities to minimize false positives and attempted to exploit them to assess their real threat level.
- Compliance assurance: Helps organizations meet PCI DSS requirements through annual penetration testing, ensuring ongoing compliance and avoiding fines.
- Detailed reporting: Provides comprehensive reports explaining identified risks and their impact, enabling organizations to prioritize and focus on the most effective remediation efforts.
- Security services: Leverages the expertise of a seasoned security team and commercial-grade tools to deliver unbiased and accurate security assessments, guiding organizations toward better security practices.
Open-source Android penetration testing tools
Here are some additional open-source Android penetration testing tools:
- Frida: Dynamic instrumentation toolkit that allows developers to inject scripts into running applications to perform debugging, reverse engineering, and security testing.
- Drozer: Security and attack framework for Android that allows security testing of Android devices and applications by providing tools to interact with Dalvik bytecode, package management, and the underlying Linux operating system.
- Nessus: Although Nessus is primarily a network vulnerability scanner and not exclusively for Android, it is a widely used open-source tool that helps identify vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and malware across various platforms, including Android.
- APKTool: Tool for reverse engineering Android APK files. It allows the decompilation of APK files to their source code, which is then recompiled after modifications, facilitating in-depth security analysis and testing.
- Android Debug Bridge (ADB): Command-line tool that enables communication with an Android device. It provides various functionalities for app installation, shell commands, and direct access to device files, making it essential for penetration testing and debugging.
- MobSF (Mobile Security Framework): Automated framework for security testing of Android and iOS applications. It provides static and dynamic analysis, API usage analysis, and identifies security vulnerabilities within mobile apps.
- Jadx: This tool decompiles Android DEX and APK files to Java source code, aiding in static analysis and reverse engineering to find vulnerabilities in Android applications.
- Metasploit Framework: While not exclusively for Android, Metasploit is an open-source penetration testing framework with modules specifically designed for Android exploitation. It provides a comprehensive suite of tools for developing and executing exploit code against a target system.
How can Global App Testing enhance your app security?
Global App Testing (GAT) specializes in functional bug identification, payment testing, and UX issue resolution. While not a dedicated pen testing service, here's how GAT bolsters your app security:
- Scalable crowdsourced testing: Seamlessly scales testing across devices, OSs, and markets with detailed analytics.
- Global tester network: Leverages 90,000+ professional testers worldwide for real-world testing.
- Streamlined process: Clients define tasks and match them with testers for swift feedback and issue resolution.
- Quality assurance: Validates bug reports and feedback for actionable insights.
- Security measures: ISO 27001 Certification, AWS infrastructure, disaster recovery, and GDPR compliance ensure data integrity, availability, and confidentiality.
- Employee security: Mandatory training, referral checks, and policy adherence uphold security standards.
Moreover, Global App Testing prioritizes preserving data integrity, availability, and confidentiality, a commitment underscored by obtaining ISO 27001 Certification in 2023.
Our operations on AWS guarantee a sophisticated security infrastructure, incorporating robust encryption protocols and authentication mechanisms to fortify data protection. If you want to learn more about our services, let's schedule a call today!
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