How Obfuscating iOS Logic Enhances iOS App Security

Learn to Obfuscate iOS Logic in iOS apps, in mobile CI/CD with a Data-Driven DevSecOps™ build system.

What is iOS Logic Obfuscation ?

Reverse engineering an iOS application involves analyzing the compiled code of the application to understand its functionality, algorithms, and data structures. Reverse engineering can be used for both legitimate purposes, such as debugging or security testing, or malicious purposes, such as stealing intellectual property, creating counterfeit applications, or injecting malicious code. iOS Logic Obfuscation can help mitigate reverse engineering of an iOS application by making the compiled code harder to understand and analyze – without affecting its functionality.

Appdome obfuscates iOS applications by renaming classes and methods to random names, making reverse engineering the code in them much harder and more time-consuming.

What are the Advantages of Obfuscating iOS Logic?

There are several reasons to obfuscate iOS applications, including:

1. Intellectual property protection: Obfuscation can help protect the intellectual property of an application by making it harder for attackers to reverse-engineer and copy the code.

2. License enforcement: Obfuscation can be used to prevent unauthorized use of an application by making it harder for attackers to modify the code and bypass license checks.

3. Security: Obfuscation can help prevent attacks such as tampering, reverse engineering, and code injection by making it harder for attackers to understand the code and identify vulnerabilities.

4. Privacy: Obfuscation can be used to protect sensitive data and prevent unauthorized access to the application’s data structures and algorithms.

Prerequisites for Using iOS Logic Obfuscation :

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Obfuscate iOS Logic , you’ll need:

• Appdome account (create a free Appdome account here)

• A license for iOS Logic Obfuscation 

• Mobile App (.ipa For iOS)

• Signing Credentials (see Signing Secure iOS apps)

Obfuscate iOS Logic on iOS apps using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending iOS Apps that Obfuscate iOS Logic without an SDK or gateway:

1. Upload the Mobile App to Appdome.

   1. Upload an app to Appdome’s Mobile App Security Build System

   2. Upload Method: Appdome Console or DEV-API
   3. iOS Formats: .ipa
   4. iOS Logic Obfuscation Compatible With: Obj-C, C+, Java, Swift, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, Cordova and more

2. Build the feature: iOS Logic Obfuscation .

   1. Building iOS Logic Obfuscation by using Appdome’s DEV-API:

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the iOS Logic Obfuscation feature as shown below:
      

      Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the iOS Logic Obfuscation feature
      Note: Naming the Fusion Set to correspond to the protection(s) selected is for illustration purposes only (not required).

      2. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2.1-2.2.2 of this article, Building the iOS Logic Obfuscation feature via Appdome Console, to add the iOS Logic Obfuscation feature to this Fusion Set.

      3. Open the Fusion Set Detail Summary by clicking the “...” symbol on the far-right corner of the Fusion Set, as shown in Figure 1 above, and get the Fusion Set ID from the Fusion Set Detail Summary (as shown below):

         Figure 2: Fusion Set Detail Summary
         Note: Annotating the Fusion Set to identify the protection(s) selected is optional only (not mandatory).

      4. Follow the instructions below to use the Fusion Set ID inside any standard mobile DevOps or CI/CD toolkit like Bitrise, App Center, Jenkins, Travis, Team City, Cirlce CI or other system:

         1. Build an API for the app – for instructions, see the tasks under Appdome API Reference Guide
         2. Look for sample APIs in Appdome’s GitHub Repository

   2. Building the iOS Logic Obfuscation feature via Appdome Console

      To build the iOS Logic Obfuscation protection by using Appdome Console, follow the instructions below.

      1. Where: Inside the Appdome Console, go to Build > Security Tab > TOTALCode™ Obfuscation section.

         Like all other options in ONEShield™, iOS Logic Obfuscation is turned on by default, as shown below:

         Figure 3: iOS Logic Obfuscation option
         Note: The App Compromise Notification contains an easy to follow default remediation path for the mobile app end user. You can customize this message as required to achieve brand specific support, workflow or other messaging.

      2. How: Toggle (turn ON) iOS Logic Obfuscation , as shown below.

         Figure 3: Obfuscate iOS Logic option

      3. When you select the iOS Logic Obfuscation you'll notice that your Fusion Set you created in step 2.1.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains iOS Logic Obfuscation

         

         Figure 4: Fusion Set that displays the newly added iOS Logic Obfuscation protection

      4. Click Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 3).

   Congratulations!  The iOS Logic Obfuscation protection is now added to the mobile app

3. Certify the iOS Logic Obfuscation feature in iOS Apps.

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

   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 iOS Logic Obfuscation has been added to each iOS app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that iOS Logic Obfuscation and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app