How to Detect Frida and Frida Methods in Android & iOS Apps

Learn to Detect Frida and Frida Methods in Mobile apps, in mobile CI/CD with a Data-Driven DevSecOps™ build system.

What is Frida?

Why Detect Frida and Its Methods in Mobile Apps?

By opting to detect Frida and Frida methods, developers can thwart cybercriminals who might employ custom Frida toolkits to exploit mobile apps, inject malicious code, or modify an app’s logic in hazardous ways. Detecting Frida methods is also crucial since a custom Frida toolkit can be used to reverse-engineer application functionalities and extract insights from undocumented APIs used by Android apps. By implementing detection mechanisms for Frida and its methods, mobile applications are protected from potential threats.

Prerequisites for Using Detect Frida and Frida Methods:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Detect Frida and Frida Methods , you’ll need:

• Appdome account (create a free Appdome account here)
• A license for Detect Frida and Frida Methods
• Mobile App (.ipa for iOS, or .apk or .aab for Android)
• Signing Credentials (see Signing Secure Android apps and Signing Secure iOS apps)

Detect Frida and Frida Methods on Mobile apps using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these simple steps to create self-defending Mobile Apps that Detect Frida and Frida Methods 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. Mobile App Formats: .ipa for iOS, or .apk or .aab for Android
   4. Detect Frida and Frida Methods Compatible With: Obj-C, C+, Java, JS, C#, C++, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, and more

2. Build the feature: Detect Frida and Frida Methods.

   1. Building Detect Frida and Frida Methods by using Appdome’s DEV-API:

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Detect Frida and Frida Methods feature as shown below:
      

      Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Detect Frida and Frida Methods 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 Detect Frida and Frida Methods feature via Appdome Console, to add the Detect Frida and Frida Methods 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 Detect Frida and Frida Methods feature via Appdome Console

      To build the Detect Frida and Frida Methods protection by using Appdome Console, follow the instructions below.

      1. Where: Inside the Appdome Console, go to Build > Anti Fraud Tab > Mobile Malware Prevention section.

         Like all other options in ONEShield™, Detect Frida and Frida Methods is turned on by default, as shown below:

         Figure 3: Detect Frida and Frida Methods 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: Check whether Block Frida is toggled On (enabled), otherwise enable it . You can see that the feature Detect Frida and Frida Methods is enabled by default, as shown below.

         Figure 3: Detect Frida and Frida Methods option

      3. When you enable Block Frida you'll notice that your Fusion Set you created in step 2.1.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Detect Frida and Frida Methods

         

         Figure 4: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Detect Frida and Frida Methods protection

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

   Congratulations!  The Detect Frida and Frida Methods protection is now added to the mobile app

3. Certify the Detect Frida and Frida Methods feature in Mobile Apps.

   After building Detect Frida and Frida Methods, Appdome generates a Certified Secure™ certificate to guarantee that the Detect Frida and Frida Methods protection has been added and is protecting the app. To verify that the Detect Frida and Frida Methods 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 Detect Frida and Frida Methods has been added to each Mobile app. Certified Secure provides instant and in-line DevSecOps compliance certification that Detect Frida and Frida Methods and other mobile app security features are in each build of the mobile app