How to Protect Android & iOS Apps from Copy/Paste Attacks

Last updated January 31, 2024 by Appdome

Learn to Add Copy/Paste Prevention in Mobile apps, in mobile CI/CD with a Data-Driven DevSecOps™ build system.

What is Copy/Paste Prevention?

Copy/Paste Prevention is a common method of protecting mobile app data from being leaked or stolen either by human actions (such as copying and then pasting into another app or a document), or via malware which is targeting your clipboard that temporarily hosts the copied data.

Why prevent Copy/Paste?

By enabling copy/paste prevention, your app’s data is protected from being copied and pasted outside your application. This protection also block the interception of your data by a malware targeting your clipboard (the temporary storage that hosts your copy-and-past data).

In some cases the actual copy and paste OS action cannot be blocked, by design. Nevertheless, your data will still be secure as in such cases Appdome’s Copy/Paste Prevention additionally encrypts the clipboard buffer. This ensures that the device’s OS can complete the copy and paste operation without error, while totally avoiding the display of any clear text; even if a malicious actor finds a way to access the copied buffer, it will only get an encrypted text.

Prerequisites for Using Copy/Paste Prevention:

To use Appdome’s mobile app security build system to Add Copy/Paste Prevention , you’ll need:

Add Copy/Paste Prevention on Mobile apps using Appdome

On Appdome, follow these 3 simple steps to create self-defending Mobile Apps that Add Copy/Paste Prevention 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. Copy/Paste Prevention Compatible With: Obj-C, C+, Java, JS, C#, C++, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity, Xamarin, and more
  2. Build the feature: Copy/Paste Prevention.

    1. Building Copy/Paste Prevention by using Appdome’s DEV-API:

      1. Create and name the Fusion Set (security template) that will contain the Copy/Paste Prevention feature as shown below:
      2. fusion set that contains Copy/Paste Prevention

        Figure 1: Fusion Set that will contain the Copy/Paste Prevention feature
        Note: Naming the Fusion Set to correspond to the protection(s) selected is for illustration purposes only (not required).

      3. Follow the steps in Sections 2.2.1-2.2.2 of this article, Building the Copy/Paste Prevention feature via Appdome Console, to add the Copy/Paste Prevention feature to this Fusion Set.

      4. 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): fusion Set Detail Summary image

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

      5. 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 Copy/Paste Prevention feature via Appdome Console

      To build the Copy/Paste Prevention protection by using Appdome Console, follow the instructions below.

      1. Where: Inside the Appdome Console, go to Build > Security Tab > Mobile Privacy section.
      2. When you select the Copy/Paste Prevention you'll notice that your Fusion Set you created in step 2.1.1 now bears the icon of the protection category that contains Copy/Paste Prevention

        Fusion Set applied Copy/Paste Prevention

        Figure 4: Fusion Set that displays the newly added Copy/Paste Prevention protection

      3. Select the Threat-Event™ in-app mobile Threat Defense and Intelligence policy for Copy/Paste Prevention:
        1. Threat-Events™ OFF > In-App Defense

          If the Threat-Events™ setting is cleared (not selected). Appdome will detect and defend the user and app by enforcing Add Copy/Paste Prevention.

        2. Threat-Events™ ON > In-App Defense

          When this setting is used, Appdome detects and defends against Copy/Paste Prevention (same as Appdome Enforce) and passes Appdome’s Threat-Event™ attack intelligence the app’s business logic for processing. For more information on consuming and using Appdome Threat-Events™ in the app, see section Using Threat-Events™ for Copy/Paste Prevention Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps.

      4. Click Build My App at the bottom of the Build Workflow (shown in Figure 3).
    Congratulations!  The Copy/Paste Prevention protection is now added to the mobile app

Using Threat-Events™ for Copy/Paste Prevention Intelligence and Control in Mobile Apps

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

The specifications and options for Threat-Events™ for Copy/Paste Prevention are:

Threat-Event™ Elements Add Copy/Paste Prevention Method Detail
Appdome Feature Name Copy/Paste Prevention
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
Visible in ThreatScope™
Developer Parameters for Adding Copy/Paste Prevention Threat-Event™
Threat-Event NAME BlockedClipboardEvent
Threat-Event DATA reasonData
Threat-Event CODE reasonCode
Threat-Event REF 8520
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
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
deviceID Current device ID
reasonCode Reason code of the occured event
buildDate Appdome fusion date of the current application
devicePlatform OS name of the current device
carrierName Carrier name of the current device
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 long
locationLat Location lat
locationState Location state
wifiSsid Wifi SSID
wifiSsidPermissionStatus Wifi SSID permission status
blocked Is the clipboard blocked
action Clipboard action

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 Copy/Paste Prevention is detected.

The following is a code sample for native Mobile apps, which uses all values in the specification above for Copy/Paste Prevention:


Using Appdome, there are no development or coding prerequisites to build secured Mobile Apps by using Copy/Paste Prevention. 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 Copy/Paste Prevention

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:

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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