How to Block Mobile Bots with Private Certificates

Last updated January 22, 2024 by Appdome

This Knowledge Base article describes how to use Appdome’s AI/ML in your CI/CD pipeline to continuously deliver plugins that Block Mobile Client Certificates in Mobile apps.

What is a bot/botnet?

A botnet is a network of computers that have been taken over (hijacked), which are exploited by hackers for performing malicious activities such as DDoS, cyber-attacks, or sending spam email messages.

 

How does Appdome block Bot/Botnet attacks?

Important: Service for the Mobile Client Certificate feature has ended as of December 31st 2023.
We invite you to upgrade to our Mobile Bot Defense solution for enhanced mobile app security. For more information, please contact our support team at support.appdome.com.


Appdome uses Mobile Client Certificate,  a feature that helps secure the communication between the App and the server by using a specific certificate. The Appdome platform will use that certificate, extract its hash, and include it in all requests from the mobile app. You can upload a certificate to the Appdome GUI and build the app. The app will automatically include that certificate hash in the requests.

The certificate hash will help verify request comes from a valid Mobile App versus a Bot/Botnet. The Web Application Firewall (WAF) can filter the traffic based on that shared secret and allow the traffic if the hash exists in the request header. Having the certificate hash in the request indicates that the request is authentic and coming from a valid app versus a fake Bot/Botnet.

Prerequisites for Using Appdome's Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates Plugins:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Block Mobile Client Certificates , you’ll need:

How to Implement Block Mobile Client Certificates in Mobile Apps Using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending Mobile Apps that Block Mobile Client Certificates 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. Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates is compatible with: Obj-C, Java, JS, C#, C++, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, and more.
  2. Select the defense: Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates.

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates feature as shown below:
        fusion set that contains Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates .

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates 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 2.2-2.2.2 of this article to add the Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates feature to your Fusion Set via the Appdome Console.

      3. When you select the Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates you'll notice that the Fusion Set you created in step 2.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates.

        Fusion Set applied Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates

        Figure 2: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates 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 Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates feature to your security template.

      1. Navigate to Build > Security tab > Secure Communication section in the Appdome Console.
      2. Toggle On > Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates.
        Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates option

        Figure 4: Selecting Block Mobile Client Certificates

        Note: The Appdome Platform displays the Mobile Operation Systems supported by each defense in real-time. For more details, see our OS Support Policy KB.

      3. Configure the User Experience Options for Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates:
        With Threat-Events™ OFF, Appdome provides several user experience options for mobile brands and developers.
        1. App Compromise Notification: Customize the pop-up or toast Appdome uses to notify the user when a threat is present while using the protected mobile app.
        2. Short message Option. This is available for mobile devices that allow a banner notification for security events.
        3. Localized Message Option. Allows Appdome users to support global languages in security notifications.

          Localized Message

          Figure 5: Default User Experience Options for Appdome’s Mobile Client Certificates

        4. Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates Threat Code™. Appdome uses AI/ML to generate a unique code each time Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates is triggered by an active threat on the mobile device. Use the code in Appdome Threat Resolution Center™ to help end users identify, find and resolve active threats on the personal mobile devices.
    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 Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates protection is now added to the mobile app
  3. Certify the Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates feature in Mobile Apps

    After building Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates protection has been added to the mobile app, locate the protection in the Certified Secure™ certificate as shown below: Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates shown in Certificate secure

    Figure 6: 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 Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates has been added to each Mobile app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app.

Using Threat-Events™ for Mobile Client Certificates Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps

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

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for Mobile Client Certificates are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Block Mobile Client Certificates Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates
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 Blocking Mobile Client Certificates 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), 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 Mobile Client Certificates is detected.


The following is a code sample for native Mobile apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates:


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 Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates. 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 Bot Defense-Mobile Client Certificates

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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