How to Block Trojan Spyware in Android Apps

Last updated February 16, 2025 by Appdome

This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Prevent Trojan Spyware in Android apps.

What is Trojan Spyware?

Trojan Spyware is malicious software that disguises itself as legitimate to infiltrate mobile devices and secretly collect sensitive information. Once installed, attackers use it to monitor activity, intercept communications, steal credentials, and exfiltrate sensitive data. Often embedded in apps or delivered via phishing, Trojan Spyware operates undetected and compromises app security, user privacy, and transactions.

Attackers exploit Trojan Spyware to gain unauthorized access to login credentials, payment data, personal files, and device connections. Spyware can intercept one-time passwords (OTPs) during transactions or log keystrokes to capture sensitive details.

Risks Posed by Trojan Spyware

  • To Mobile Apps: Manipulates app functions to steal session data or impersonate users.
  • To Users: Violates privacy by recording activity and stealing personal information.
  • To Transactions: Compromises payment systems by redirecting funds or stealing financial data.
  • To Credentials: Captures passwords and multi-factor authentication codes for further exploitation.
  • To Connections: Monitors and alters secure communications, including encrypted traffic.

Defending against Trojan Spyware is essential to protect user trust, ensure secure app operation, and comply with data protection regulations. For example, a banking app must secure login credentials and financial transactions to prevent unauthorized access to accounts and avoid regulatory fines.

How Does Appdome Protect Android Apps Against Trojan Spyware?

Appdome’s dynamic Prevent Trojan Spyware plugin monitors multiple threat signals during app runtime to detect Trojan Spyware such as Pegasus, Cerberus, AgentTesla, and DarkComet. It identifies abnormal activity patterns, such as unauthorized data access or suspicious API calls, without impacting app performance or stability.

By leveraging a layered defense approach, Appdome’s dynamic plugins detect and block spyware actions to secure app behavior and user privacy. At the same time, developers can use Threat-Events™ to collect spyware threat data and enhance the user experience.

Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Prevent Trojan Spyware Plugins:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Prevent Trojan Spyware , you’ll need:

How to Implement Prevent Trojan Spyware in Android Apps Using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending Android Apps that Prevent Trojan Spyware without an SDK or gateway:

  1. Designate the Mobile App to be protected.

    1. Upload an app via the Appdome Mobile Defense platform GUI or via Appdome’s DEV-API or CI/CD Plugins.

    2. Android Formats: .apk or .aab
    3. Prevent Trojan Spyware is compatible with: Java, JS, C++, C#, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and other Android apps.
  2. Select the defense: Prevent Trojan Spyware.

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Prevent Trojan Spyware feature as shown below:
        fusion set that contains Prevent Trojan Spyware

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Prevent Trojan Spyware feature

      2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Prevent Trojan Spyware feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.

      3. When you select the Prevent Trojan Spyware you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Prevent Trojan Spyware.

        Fusion Set applied Prevent Trojan Spyware

        Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Prevent Trojan Spyware protection
        Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      4. Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set. Copy the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below): fusion Set Detail Summary image

        Figure 3: Fusion Set Detail Summary

      5. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Circle CI or other system:
        1. Refer to the Appdome API Reference Guide for API building instructions.
        2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository.
    1. Add the Prevent Trojan Spyware feature to your security template.

      1. Navigate to Build > Anti ATO tab > Android Trojans section in the Appdome Console.
      2. Toggle On > Prevent Trojan Spyware.
        Prevent Trojan Spyware option

        Figure 4: Selecting Prevent Trojan Spyware

    2. Initiate the build command either by clicking Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 4) or via your CI/CD as described in Section 2.1.4.
    Congratulations!  The Prevent Trojan Spyware protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Prevent Trojan Spyware feature in Android Apps

    After building Prevent Trojan Spyware, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Prevent Trojan Spyware protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Prevent Trojan Spyware protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: Prevent Trojan Spyware shown in Certificate secure

    Figure 5: Certified Secure™ certificate

    Each Certified Secure™ certificate provides DevOps and DevSecOps organizations the entire workflow summary, audit trail of each build, and proof of protection that Prevent Trojan Spyware has been added to each Android app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Prevent Trojan Spyware and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.

Using Threat-Events™ for Trojan Spyware Intelligence and Control in Android Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when Trojan Spyware is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for Trojan Spyware in Android Apps, use registerReceiver in the Application OnCreate, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for Trojan Spyware shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for Trojan Spyware are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Prevent Trojan Spyware Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Prevent Trojan Spyware
Threat-Event Mode
OFF, IN-APP DEFENSE Appdome detects, defends and notifies user (standard OS dialog) using customizable messaging.
ON, IN-APP DETECTION Appdome detects the attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (app chooses how and when to enforce).
ON, IN-APP DEFENSE Uses Appdome Enforce mode for any attack or threat and passes the event in a standard format to the app for processing (gather intel on attacks and threats without losing any protection).
Certified Secure™ Threat Event Check x
Visible in ThreatScope™ x
Developer Parameters for Preventing Trojan Spyware Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME
Threat-Event DATA reasonData
Threat-Event CODE reasonCode
Threat-Event REF
Threat-Event SCORE
currentThreatEventScore Current Threat-Event score
threatEventsScore Total Threat-events score
Threat-Event Context Keys
message Message displayed for the user on event
failSafeEnforce Timed enforcement against the identified threat
externalID The external ID of the event which can be listened via Threat Events
osVersion OS version of the current device
deviceModel Current device model
deviceManufacturer The manufacturer of the current device
fusedAppToken The task ID of the Appdome fusion of the currently running app
kernelInfo Info about the kernel: system name, node name, release, version and machine.
carrierPlmn PLMN of the device. Only available for Android devices.
deviceID Current device ID
reasonCode Reason code of the occurred event
buildDate Appdome fusion date of the current application
devicePlatform OS name of the current device
carrierName Carrier name of the current device. Only available for Android.
updatedOSVersion Is the OS version up to date
deviceBrand Brand of the device
deviceBoard Board of the device
buildUser Build user
buildHost Build host
sdkVersion Sdk version
timeZone Time zone
deviceFaceDown Is the device face down
locationLong Location longitude conditioned by location permission
locationLat Location latitude conditioned by location permission
locationState Location state conditioned by location permission
wifiSsid Wifi SSID
wifiSsidPermissionStatus Wifi SSID permission status
threatCode The last six characters of the threat code specify the OS, allowing the Threat Resolution Center to address the attack on the affected device.

With Threat-Events™ enabled (turned ON), Android developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in Android applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when Trojan Spyware is detected.


The following is a code sample for native Android apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Prevent Trojan Spyware:


Important! Replace all placeholder instances of <Context Key> with the specific name of your threat event context key across all language examples. This is crucial to ensure your code functions correctly with the intended event data. For example, The <Context Key> could be the message, externalID, OS Version, reason code, etc.



Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Apps by using Prevent Trojan Spyware. There is no SDK and no library to code or implement in the app and no gateway to deploy in your network. All protections are built into each app and the resulting app is self-defending and self-protecting.

Releasing and Publishing Mobile Apps with Prevent Trojan Spyware

After successfully securing your app by using Appdome, there are several available options to complete your project, depending on your app lifecycle or workflow. These include:

Related Articles:

 

How Do I Learn More?

If you have any questions, please send them our way at support.appdome.com or via the chat window on the Appdome platform.

Thank you!

Thanks for visiting Appdome! Our mission is to secure every app on the planet by making mobile app security easy. We hope we’re living up to the mission with your project.

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