A STUDY ON SECURITY CHALLENGES IN ANDROID APPLICATIONS AND THEIR SOLUTIONS

Abstract: Android is the world’s most widely used mobile operating system, powering billions of smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, and IoT devices. Its open-source nature supports innovation but also increases exposure to many security threats. Because Android applications handle highly sensitive data such as banking information, identity details, authentication tokens, and personal records, a single vulnerability can lead to privacy leaks, financial loss, unauthorized access, or malware attacks. Recent studies (2020–2025) highlight recurring issues such as insecure data storage, weak cryptographic implementation, misuse of runtime permissions, unsafe Inter-Component Communication (ICC), insecure network communication, and application tampering or repackaging. The fast rise of Android malware—often using code obfuscation, dynamic payloads, and repackaging—adds further complexity to application security. To address these issues, researchers have proposed modern mitigation techniques, including encrypted storage, certificate pinning, component protection, secure coding practices, and automated testing tools like MobSF, QARK, and Drozer. Industry standards such as OWASP MASVS and MASTG provide structured guidelines for secure development. Recent work also shows that AI and ML models (SVM, LSTM, CNN) achieve high accuracy in detecting malware. Overall, the literature concludes that most Android vulnerabilities result from improper implementation rather than platform limitations, stressing the need for a security-first development approach

Keywords: Android Security, Malware Analysis, ICC, Mobile Application Vulnerabilities, Cryptography, Secure Development.