In B2C mobile applications, Customer Identity and Access Management (CIAM) is the gatekeeper for user access and identity lifecycle management. CIAM systems orchestrate the login experience, enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA), manage credentials, and route user access decisions based on policies. But in mobile apps, identity isn’t just about what happens at login—it’s about ensuring the authenticity of the entity asserting identity at login and in every session, engagement, and transaction in a mobile app.
Appdome’s IDAnchor™ is defining a new category of mobile defense called Customer Identity Protection (CIP). CIP evaluates trust in the identity context to protect CIAM from threats originating from the mobile instance or environment. IDAnchor ensures that the mobile app, install, device, and session asserting the identity are valid, untampered, and bound to an identity chain of trust that is unique to each user.
CIAM Needs a Perimeter Defense in Mobile Apps
CIAM emerged on the assumption that the mobile app, instance, device, and environment from which the access request originates can be trusted. However, today, a fraudster can create fake apps, fake devices, fake identities or repackage the mobile app as Trojan malware and use social engineering to persuade the victim to download it. The attacker, entering valid credentials into the real app on a forged device, or the user entering valid credentials into the Trojan app, can both get access under CIAM.
IDAnchor provides a perimeter defense for CIAM and validates the app’s signature, release lineage, and runtime integrity before CIAM ever processes the request. With IDAnchor, the mobile app or CIAM can:
- Validate that a login attempt originates from a genuine app release, known install, and trusted device.
- Detect when a user’s identity is being asserted from a different/unknown device, fake/spoofed device or emulated/virtual device.
- Identify if credentials or biometric data is being manipulated, reused or provided by a Trojan, counterfeit, or altered app.
- Recognize when the login activity is being manipulated by on-device malware.
- Flag synthetic or brute-force identity attacks from automated tools and session replays.
In this new model, the CIAM continues its primary role in evaluating the credential and biometric “results and policy match” (e.g., a correct password, OTP, or biometric data). The CIP’s and IDAnchor’s new role is to evaluate the credential and biometric “input source and chain of trust match” (e.g., trusted app, instance, environment, and device signature). Combined, IDAnchor and CIAM provide a multi-layered defense to prevent Account Takeovers (ATOs) and mobile fraud generally.
Using CIP’s Identity Chain of Trust in CIAM
IDAnchor compares the source of the identity assertion to a living, tamper-resistant chain of trust from DevOps to Device for each user. This identity framework binds each identity assertion to:
- Workspace ID – the DevOps environment where the app was built
- Release ID – the specific build/version of the app in use
- Install ID – the exact app instance installed on the user’s device
- Device ID –a persistent device fingerprint that remains consistent across resets and reinstalls and detects changes in device state, configuration, or virtualization
If any part of the chain of trust is changed, manipulated or replaced, the mobile app and CIAM know customer identity is at risk. This ensures that each login, MFA, or authentication submission not only matches the data and policies in the CIAM, but also that the source of the submission is trusted and secure at the time the identity assertion is made.
Key CIAM Threats Solved by IDAnchor
IDAnchor is designed so that either the mobile app or the CIAM can call the CIP layer at any time. In this way, IDAnchor can provide signal enrichment for customer identity and stop threats that target identity assertions including:
CIAM Bypass via Fake Apps
Trojan or counterfeit apps, fake devices, and malware-controlled devices can be used to impersonate real apps and users. IDAnchor ensures that CIAM workflows are only called by genuine, untampered apps, installs and devices.
Device Swapping & Burner Phones
Attackers often sign in with stolen credentials on a new or burner device. IDAnchor flags when identity is being asserted from an unknown or alternate device, breaking the chain of trust.
Session Replays and Scripted ATOs
Credential stuffing and session replay attacks reuse stolen identity data. IDAnchor detects when identity actions occur in a non-trusted app or from an untrusted session state.
Biometric Bypass & MFA Spoofing
Even when biometrics or MFA succeed, the session can still be hijacked. For example, IDAnchor can detect that an attacker is using a repackaged app or screen overlay to trick users into submitting a Face ID scan into a counterfeit UI, which passes biometric validation but intercepts the trusted identity chain.
Synthetic Identity and Credential Replay
Automated tools can create thousands of fake accounts to game promotions or commit fraud. IDAnchor ensures each account is tied to a real mobile identity with persistent and verifiable fingerprints.
In addition to creating a unique chain of trust for every user, IDAnchor delivers real-time threat signals from the mobile runtime to the app or CIAM, helping detect anomalies that put customer identity at risk. By bringing these threat signals into the identity context, mobile apps can trigger step-up authentication, deny logins, or pause sessions before CIAM grants access. This elevates CIAM from a policy engine to a truly threat-aware identity system. Together, IDAnchor and CIAM can create real, trusted customer identities—not merely based on usernames and passwords.
The Future of Customer Identity is Trust
In mobile apps, identity is asserted and reasserted in every action taken in an Android & iOS app. Once access is granted, the job of the CIAM systems is done. CIP and IDAnchor specifically ensure continuous identity assurance throughout the mobile app lifecycle.
Customer identity plays a role in mobile apps in several ways – from login, to social engagement, purchase, payment, and other events in apps. IDAnchor ensures that the asserted customer identity is valid before and after CIAM completes its authentication tasks. IDAnchor also ensures that each validated customer identity persists across app upgrades, reinstalls, device changes, and every session, activity, and transaction—while continuously verifying that the asserted identity remains trusted even after authentication. In this way, IDAnchor and CIP extend the value of CIAM by protecting the authenticity of identity assertions, sessions, and user interactions and notifying the app or CIAM if the identity chain of trust is broken or if identity-specific threats exist in the user’s engagement lifecycle.
If you want to strengthen the CIAM implementation in your app, let us show you how IDAnchor can protect the authenticity of every customer interaction. Contact us at info@appdome.com to learn more, or click the button below to request a live demo from one of our identity experts.
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