A Comprehensive Guide to Mobile Penetration Testing

Your customers now live on their phones. Payments, healthcare, identity, and work all flow through mobile apps... and threat actors know it. A single insecure API call, a leaky WebView, or a hard-coded secret can become a front door to your brand, your data, and your users.

Mobile Penetration Testing validates the real-world security of your iOS and Android apps, from the code and device controls to the APIs and cloud backends that power them. Done right, it protects revenue, privacy, and trust before attackers test them for you.

This guide explains what mobile pentesting entails, how it differs from traditional web or infrastructure testing, and how Packetlabs’ Mobile Penetration Testing methodology helps you ship secure apps faster.

This Guide Includes

• A comprehensive overview of Mobile Penetration Testing

• Why mobile security is critical to digital resilience

• The phases and methodologies behind a mobile pentest

• How mobile pentesting differs from other assessments

• How mobile testing supports regulatory and compliance initiatives

• What to expect from a Packetlabs Mobile Pentest engagement

• Next steps for teams ready to secure their mobile apps

Who Will Benefit From This Guide

• CISOs, CTOs, and product leaders responsible for mobile channels

• Mobile engineers and DevSecOps teams shipping iOS/Android apps

• Security architects and administrators supporting mobile programs

• MSPs, SaaS vendors, and fintech/healthtech platforms with mobile fronts

• Compliance officers and cyber insurance stakeholders seeking verified assurance

What is Mobile Penetration Testing?

Mobile Penetration Testing is a specialized security assessment for iOS and Android applications and their supporting services. It combines static analysis (SAST), dynamic analysis (DAST), and manual exploitation to identify issues across:

• App binaries & code paths (e.g., insecure storage, weak crypto, hard-coded secrets)

• Runtime protections (root/jailbreak detection, anti-tamper, obfuscation)

• App-to-API communication (auth, session management, TLS, cert pinning)

• Platform integrations (Intents/Deep Links/URL Schemes, Keychain/Keystore, Face/Touch ID)

• Embedded browsers & WebViews (XSS, origin policy, unsafe bridges)

• Third-party SDKs & supply chain (analytics, ads, payment, SSO)

A comprehensive mobile pentest delivers:

• Clear identification of exploitable vulnerabilities and misconfigurations

• Verification of authentication, authorization, and session controls

• Evidence of data exposure risks on-device and in transit

• Actionable remediation mapped to business impact and release cycles

Why Mobile Penetration Testing is Essential

Mobile apps are the front line for both growth and fraud. Threat actors target mobile to:

• Exfiltrate PII and payment data via weak storage or verbose logs

• Bypass authentication (abusing OAuth/JWT, SSO flows, or session replay)

• Abuse business logic (coupon/points fraud, transaction manipulation)

• Exploit platform features (deep link hijacking, intent injection, insecure WebViews)

• Reverse engineer apps to clone features, harvest secrets, or disable controls

Regular mobile pentesting ensures you find and fix these weaknesses before they translate into breaches, churn, or fines.

Benefits of Mobile Pentesting Include:

• Protecting customer data, brand reputation, and revenue

• Reducing fraud and account-takeover risk

• Validating TLS, certificate pinning, token lifecycles, and MFA

• Supporting OWASP MASVS/MASTG, OWASP ASVS, ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS

• Strengthening trust with users, partners, and app store reviewers

Packetlabs Mobile Penetration Testing Methodology

Every engagement is tailored to your app architecture, risk profile, and release cadence to protect against the top mobile app threats.

Our assessments are 100% manual, production-safe, and executed by certified ethical hackers with deep iOS/Android expertise.

Our methodology covers:

• Discovery and Threat Modelling

  • Map app features, data flows, and third-party SDKs

  • Identify high-risk use cases (payments, healthcare, identity)

• Static and Build Analysis (SAST)

  • Review app binandries/IPA/APK for secrets, insecure crypto, debug artifacts

  • Assess build configs (ProGuard/obfuscation, ATS/Network Security Config)

• Dynamic Analysis (DAST) and Runtime Protections

  • Exercise the app on real devices/emulators; inspect traffic, tokens, headers

  • Evaluate jailbreak/root detection, anti-tamper, and re-packaging resilience

• Auth, Session and API Security

  • Test OAuth/OIDC, JWT, token rotation, refresh flows, logout/invalidate

  • Validate server-side authorization and rate-limit/abuse controls

  • Assess TLS versions, cipher suites, and certificate pinning robustness

• Platform and UX Attack Surface

  • Deep Links/URL Schemes/Intents: hijacking, parameter tampering, forced navigation

  • WebViews: JavaScript bridges, origin policy, XSS, navigation controls

  • Keychain/Keystore: secure storage, biometrics, local auth flows

• Data Exposure and Privacy

  • On-device storage, logs, backups, notifications, screenshots/app switcher

  • Clipboard, inter-app communication, screenshots caching, and crash reporting

• Abuse and Business Logic

  • Transaction replay, coupon/points abuse, price/quantity manipulation

  • Abuse of background tasks, push tokens, and offline modes

• Post-Exploitation and Chaining

  • Demonstrate end-to-end attack paths (device → API → account takeover)

  • Validate detection/response and provide prioritized fixes

All testing aligns with the OWASP Mobile Application Security Verification Standard (MASVS) and the Mobile Application Security Testing Guide (MASTG), plus OWASP ASVS for API/backend alignment.

What Makes Mobile Pentesting Different

Mobile security isn't just web testing on a smaller screen. It blends application, platform, and hardware concerns to encompass:

• On-device realities: storage, logs, biometrics, Keychain/Keystore nuances

• Platform features: deep links, intents, app extensions, push services

• Reverse engineering and tamper resistance: obfuscation, anti-debug, packers

• API coupling: mobile clients drive high-risk API flows and token lifecycles

• App-store expectations: review guidelines and privacy disclosures

Regulatory and Compliance Alignment Via Mobile Penetration Testing

Mobile Penetration Testing supports:

• OWASP MASVS/MASTG, OWASP ASVS

• ISO 27001 / ISO 27701, SOC 2

• GDPR / HIPAA (privacy & PHI handling)

• PCI DSS v4.0 (mobile payment flows and data protection)

Routine testing demonstrates due diligence, strengthens cyber-insurance posture, and reduces risk from third-party SDKs and integrations.

Why Choose Packetlabs

Packetlabs is a global leader in advanced penetration testing across mobile, web, cloud, and enterprise.

Why clients choose us:

• Every tester holds OSCP at minimum, with the majority also holding OSWE, OSEP, and GXPN certifications

• Testing is performed 100% in-house with no outsourcing, guaranteeing consistent quality

• Clients rate Packetlabs 9.5/10 for clarity, depth, and professionalism

• We provide clear remediation guidance and collaborative post-test support

Our consultative approach goes beyond finding issues: we help your teams secure thoroughly, quickly.

What Does a Mobile Pentest Report Include?

Every Packetlabs Mobile Penetration Test includes:

• A prioritized report detailing vulnerabilities, impact, and exploit paths

• Executive summary for leadership and non-technical stakeholders

• Technical evidence (request/response pairs, screenshots, PoC steps)

• Actionable, risk-ranked remediation guidance mapped to MASVS/MASTG

• Optional post-remediation retesting to verify fixes

Next Steps

If your organization ships or relies on iOS or Android apps, now is the time to assess and harden your mobile security.

Connect with our team of experts to:

• Review your current mobile risk profile

• Define a tailored testing scope and schedule

• Start protecting your users (and your brand) where and when it matters most