Mobile app vs. mobile device security: What are the differences?

On the surface, it’s easy to think mobile device and mobile app security are essentially the same thing. After all, both focus on securing mobile devices and the information or software stored on them. So how different can they be?

In truth, the similarities are much more superficial than you think. Mobile device security is generally designed to protect the end user or the organization they work for. Mobile app security is implemented by app vendors to ensure their software can function safely even on compromised or poorly-secured devices. 

In many ways, there are significant differences between the issues these approaches are trying to protect against and the techniques they use to do so. But naturally, there is also some overlap.

So what are the key similarities and differences? And what techniques and security protections does each involve? In this piece, we discuss the key details.

What is mobile device security? Definitions, basics, and key techniques

At a glance: Mobile device security basics:

• Defends against: Malware, data loss, unauthorized access, device theft.
• Who’s responsible?: IT Security teams (e.g. MDM), OS vendors, end users.

• Key security features: 

• OS-level security features: Passwords, multi-factor authentication, biometrics, encryption, sandboxing.

Other security features: Security patches, MDM solutions, antivirus/anti-malware, app signing.

Mobile device security involves the protection of a physical mobile device and the data that it either stores or accesses. 

Generally, the goal is to protect sensitive information from a range of malicious threats, including unauthorized access, loss, or theft. That data can belong to the owner of the device itself or the organization they’re working for. 

The most fundamental security protections in this category are implemented by operating system vendors, i.e. Google (Android) and Apple (iOS). These include app sandboxes, malware detection, and encryption. Many of these features are similar across Android and iOS, though iOS protections are generally tighter. 

However, all these techniques can (and regularly are) bypassed by hackers, meaning they’re far from a silver bullet. Crucially, any user who chooses to root or jailbreak their own device risks removing these OS-level protections. 

Therefore, many individual phone users (or more likely, their organization) will add additional security features on top. For IT teams, this will generally be done through a mobile device management (MDM) or mobile application management (MAM) tool. These allow organizations to remotely manage access permissions, sensitive information, and application control across mobile devices. 

MDM tools play a key role in the wider landscape of Zero Trust: Ensuring every device, account, and endpoint is monitored and secured. 

Read more: Bringing Zero Trust to mobile applications

Mobile device security: Features, tools, and protections

Here are the key mobile device security features: 

• OS-level security features:

• Multi-factor authentication, passwords, and biometrics: A range of authentication features designed to ensure only the device owner (or somebody they trust) can access the device. 
• Encryption: Encryption can help to secure data and files stored on the device, as well as login credentials and keys. 

• Sandboxing: Sandboxes create a virtual barrier between mobile apps, preventing sensitive data from either leaving or being shared between them. 

• Other security features:

• Security patches: Installing security updates can prevent hackers from accessing sensitive data, gaining elevated privileges, or installing malware. 
• MDM solutions: These tools allow IT teams to remotely manage, monitor, and secure company-owned devices. 
• Antivirus/anti-malware: Malicious software like keyloggers, trojans, and spyware can be identified using a range of anti-malware tools. 
• App signing: This technique ensures that apps on the device are verified and signed from a trusted source—generally the Google Play or App Store. 

What is mobile app security? Definitions, basics, and key techniques

At a glance: Mobile app security basics:

• Defends against: Repackaging, unauthorized access, data exfiltration, tampering.
• Who’s responsible?: Mobile app vendors.

• Key security features: 

• Secure coding best practices: User input validation, data encryption, user/app authentication, vulnerability management, removing hardcoded credentials.

• Static protections: Code obfuscation/encryption.
• Runtime protections: Hooking prevention, rooting/jailbreak detection, anti-malware, repackaging checks.
• App attestation: App legitimacy checks, using authenticated protocols, behavioral analysis, and user authentication.

Mobile app security involves defending an application from insecure devices and the issues they might introduce. 

There are a number of reasons why this is important. But much of it can be summed up like this: Mobile device security isn’t 100% effective, and you can’t rely on your app users to either have, or not to remove, these protections.

This is particularly the case when it comes to rooting or jailbreaking, which can remove many of the OS-level security features we discussed in the last section. This is dangerous for both the device owner and the vendor of whatever apps are installed on that device. Therefore, protecting against this risk is a key concern for mobile app vendors. 

Another important component of mobile app security is the OWASP Top 10. This is a widely accepted list of the most common app security misconfigurations, including ‘improper credential usage’, ‘insecure communication’, and more. Such issues create well-known entry points for hackers, so it’s important to make sure these are removed from your app’s source code. 

Read more: Addressing the OWASP Mobile Top 10 (2024)

Overall, mobile app security generally falls into one of the following categories:

Secure coding best practices:

• Involves: A series of development techniques to eliminate common attack vectors, encapsulated by the OWASP Top 10. 

• Techniques include: User input validation, data encryption, user/app authentication, vulnerability management, removing hardcoded credentials.

Static protections:

• Involves: Preventing hackers from gaining access to the internal logic of applications (often via debuggers) in order to identify vulnerabilities or locate sensitive data. 

• Techniques include: Code obfuscation/encryption.

Runtime application self-protection (RASP):

• Involves: Preventing hackers from using hooking frameworks and other techniques to either extract key information or modify the app’s behavior during runtime. 
• Techniques include: Hooking prevention, rooting/jailbreak detection, anti-malware, repackaging checks.

App attestation:

• Involves: Protecting insecure or malicious connections from accessing the server or database via public-facing APIs. 
• Techniques include: App legitimacy checks, use of authenticated protocols, behavioral analysis, user authentication.

Mobile app security vs. mobile device security: Key similarities and differences

As we’ve described above, there are many differences between mobile app and mobile device security. These can be summed up by the following three points:

• Scope: Device security protects the entire mobile, while app security focuses on individual applications.

• Control: Device security is often controlled by the user or an IT department, while app security is the responsibility of the app vendor.

• Attack vectors: Device threats include lost/stolen devices, malware, and OS exploits, while app threats include data leaks, APIs, unauthorized access, and code tampering.

But with this final point, attack vectors, there are also significant similarities. This is because many security issues can affect both the device and the apps stored on it. 

In practice, therefore, there are many similarities between app and device security. These include:

Rooting/jailbreaking detection:

• App security defends the app from malware on the device, as well as tampering, hooking, and runtime issues.
• Device security protects the device from malware, principally to protect the personal or organizational data that the device stores or accesses. 

Secure storage:

• App security secures app-specific sensitive data like credentials or tokens.
• Device security can be deployed by the OS vendor or organization (via MDM) to secure sensitive data on the device.

Network security: 

• App security involves implementing secure protocols to prevent man-in-the-middle or spoofing attacks.
• Device security is often used by organizations to protect against the same issues, using a combination of MDM and VPNs.

Multi-factor authentication

• App security ensures the app is being used by the genuine user. This is particularly helpful for e.g. financial apps, whose vendors are required to perform know-your-customer (KYC) checks on their app users. 
• Device security protects against phone theft and SIM swap.

Protecting your apps from insecure devices and malicious users

While mobile app and mobile device security are both invaluable, they’re important to different people and organizations for different reasons. 

Long story short: If you’re an app vendor, then it’s hugely important that you invest in mobile app security. You can’t rely on the device owner to implement security features. At the same time, there’s no 100% effective way of detecting rooted or jailbroken devices, meaning you can’t even rely on OS-level security features. 

Read more: Root detection: What it is and how it works

Ultimately, effective mobile app security empowers organizations to proactively safeguard their applications and users. Achieving robust protection requires a multi-layered approach, combining runtime defenses against tampering and malicious activity, strong static protections such as code obfuscation, and reliable app attestation to verify the integrity of connections.

By integrating these security measures, ideally as part of the post-compilation process, developers can enhance app resilience without disrupting existing workflows or delaying time to market. Today, adopting comprehensive mobile app security technology is essential for maintaining trust and defending against evolving risks.