How to Secure Mobile Apps With True Device Attributes

Last updated July 31, 2025 by Appdome

This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Protect True Device Attributes in Mobile apps.

What is True Device Attributes?

True Device Attributes is a mobile app protection that collects and shares high-integrity, hard-to-spoof data about the mobile device in use. Mobile fraudsters commonly manipulate or spoof device information to bypass security checks, create synthetic devices, or mask the true source of attacks. They often use tools that randomize or hide device attributes like model, OS version, hardware ID, or SIM configuration, undermining both security and attribution. This makes detecting real versus fake or tampered devices extremely difficult, especially in app-based login, payments, or promo systems. Accurate device-level signals are essential for enforcing anti-fraud policies, ensuring fair user acquisition analytics, and complying with financial regulations like PSD2 and FFIEC.

How Appdome Secures Mobile Apps With True Device Attributes

When Appdome’s dynamic True Device Attributes feature is enabled, Appdome generates a secure baseline of expected device attributes during the build process. This baseline is created by binding the app to system-level data such as the device model, OS version, build fingerprint, and hardware ID. These values are encrypted and stored securely.

At runtime, the app collects the actual device attributes from the live mobile environment and validates them against the secure baseline. Appdome continuously monitors for any attempts to alter, replace, or interfere with these values using instrumentation tools, emulators, or other techniques. Any anomalies in these attributes are flagged in real time. This runtime validation ensures that the app only trusts authentic device signals and effectively filters out manipulated, masked, or synthetic data. As a result, developers and fraud teams can confidently rely on device-level identity for risk scoring, fraud prevention, account protection, and regulatory compliance.

Prerequisites for Using Appdome's True Device Attributes Plugins:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Protect True Device Attributes , you’ll need:

How to Implement Protect True Device Attributes in Mobile Apps Using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these simple steps to create self-defending Mobile Apps that Protect True Device Attributes 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. Mobile App Formats: .ipa for iOS, or .apk or .aab for Android
    3. True Device Attributes is compatible with: Obj-C, Java, JS, C#, C++, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, and more.
  2. Select the defense: True Device Attributes.

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the True Device Attributes feature as shown below:
        fusion set that contains True Device Attributes

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the True Device Attributes feature

      2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the True Device Attributes feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.

      3. When you enable IDAnchor you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains True Device Attributes.

        Fusion Set applied True Device Attributes

        Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added True Device Attributes 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 True Device Attributes feature to your security template.

      1. Navigate to Build > IDAnchor tab > Android IDAnchor section in the Appdome Console.
      2. Toggle On IDAnchor > True Device Attributes.
        Note: The checkmark feature True Device Attributes is enabled by default, as shown below. True Device Attributes option

        Figure 4: Selecting Protect True Device Attributes

    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 True Device Attributes protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the True Device Attributes feature in Mobile Apps

    After building True Device Attributes, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the True Device Attributes protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the True Device Attributes protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: True Device Attributes 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 True Device Attributes has been added to each Mobile app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that True Device Attributes and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.

Using Threat-Events™ for True Device Attributes Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps

Appdome Threat-Events™ provides consumable in-app mobile app attack intelligence and defense control when True Device Attributes is detected. To consume and use Threat-Events™ for True Device Attributes in Mobile Apps, use AddObserverForName in Notification Center, and the code samples for Threat-Events™ for True Device Attributes shown below.

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for True Device Attributes are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Protect True Device Attributes Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name True Device Attributes
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 Protecting True Device Attributes Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME
Threat-Event DATA reasonData
Threat-Event CODE reasonCode
Threat-Event SCORE
currentThreatEventScore Current Threat-Event score
threatEventsScore Total Threat-events score
Threat-Event Context Keys
Timestamp The exact time the threat event was triggered, recorded in milliseconds since epoch
message Message displayed for the user on event
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
deviceBrand Brand of the device
deviceBoard Board of the device
buildUser Build user
buildHost Build host
sdkVersion Sdk version
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), Mobile developers can get detailed attack intelligence and granular defense control in Mobile applications and create amazing user experiences for all mobile end users when True Device Attributes is detected.


The following is a code sample for native Mobile apps, which uses all values in the specification above for True Device Attributes:


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 Mobile Apps by using True Device Attributes. 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 True Device Attributes

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.

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