TY - GEN
T1 - Mobile and Web Applications Clones
T2 - 19th IEEE International Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing Conference, IWCMC 2023
AU - Alhashmi, Sumaya
AU - Alneyadi, Aysha
AU - Alshehhi, Maryam
AU - Lamaazi, Hanane
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 IEEE.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The growth of mobile application and website markets resulted in a diverse range of apps that are localized or curated for specific use cases. This make it challenging for users to identify the correct version or name of the app they want to install. As a result, the threat of app cloning is raised, where adversaries copy an app's package, make minimal changes to its code, and redistribute the cloned app on the market for financial gain or to spread malicious payloads. The existing methods for detecting cloned apps rely on static signatures, which can be easily evaded using control-flow and data-flow obfuscation techniques. Additionally, many approaches do not scale with the number of apps, code size, and complexity, leading to prohibitive detection time requirements. This paper investigates the issue of app cloning and its effects on the app development industry. A deep analysis of various existing methods and apps that are used to detect clone apps is provided. Also, the paper highlights the main strategies that app developers can use to protect their apps from being cloned. Finally, a summary of our findings through a developed survey within the UAE is provided and a set of recommendations for app developers on how to safeguard their apps from cloning is suggested.
AB - The growth of mobile application and website markets resulted in a diverse range of apps that are localized or curated for specific use cases. This make it challenging for users to identify the correct version or name of the app they want to install. As a result, the threat of app cloning is raised, where adversaries copy an app's package, make minimal changes to its code, and redistribute the cloned app on the market for financial gain or to spread malicious payloads. The existing methods for detecting cloned apps rely on static signatures, which can be easily evaded using control-flow and data-flow obfuscation techniques. Additionally, many approaches do not scale with the number of apps, code size, and complexity, leading to prohibitive detection time requirements. This paper investigates the issue of app cloning and its effects on the app development industry. A deep analysis of various existing methods and apps that are used to detect clone apps is provided. Also, the paper highlights the main strategies that app developers can use to protect their apps from being cloned. Finally, a summary of our findings through a developed survey within the UAE is provided and a set of recommendations for app developers on how to safeguard their apps from cloning is suggested.
KW - Application Cloning
KW - Data Privacy
KW - Security
KW - Threat
KW - Trustworthiness
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85167724937&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85167724937&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1109/IWCMC58020.2023.10182983
DO - 10.1109/IWCMC58020.2023.10182983
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:85167724937
T3 - 2023 International Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing, IWCMC 2023
SP - 464
EP - 469
BT - 2023 International Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing, IWCMC 2023
PB - Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Y2 - 19 June 2023 through 23 June 2023
ER -