TrustDefender Mobile Technical Brief Fraud Protection for Native Mobile Applications
TrustDefender Mobile from ThreatMetrix is a lightweight SDK library for Google Android and Apple ios mobile devices. The library can be integrated within mobile applications, enabling legitimate mobile users to connect easily and securely to web applications protected by the ThreatMetrix TrustDefender Cybercrime Protection Platform. In addition to improving the user experience, TrustDefender Mobile protects businesses from fraud committed via mobile devices. TrustDefender Mobile works in conjunction with, and is 100% integrated with, the ThreatMetrix TrustDefender Cybercrime Protection Platform, which was designed specifically to protect web applications. When users connect to a protected web application via a native mobile application, TrustDefender Mobile profiles the mobile device and provides a comprehensive security and fraud assessment to the TrustDefender Cybercrime Protection Platform. Using that assessment data, along with the business s specific policies and information from the shared Global Trust Intelligence Network, the TrustDefender Cybercrime Protection Platform generates a risk score. Good scores result in positive context-based authentication, triggering instant access or transaction approval, which provides legitimate users with a frictionless and positive experience. Questionable scores may result in additional review or step-up authentication. Bad scores, depending on the organization s policies, will generally cause the session or transaction to be terminated. How TrustDefender Mobile Works Organizations use ThreatMetrix to detect and prevent fraud by invoking TrustDefender Mobile to protect key interactions typically during login, payment, and account registrations. When users perform these actions, the TrustDefender Mobile code embedded within the app provides an advanced and detailed threat and risk assessment of the mobile device. The device is uniquely identified and analyzed for the presence of malware. Additionally, numerous attributes are gathered to indicate whether the device is configured normally, or has suspicious settings or other anomalies indicating risk. When executing on Android-based systems, TrustDefender Mobile also verifies the integrity of the application in which it is embedded to ensure it has not been modified or infected. What s more, the system analyzes every installed application to determine its reputation and detect the presence of malware. Mobile device profiling provides information and services such as: Persistent Device Identification: Identifies individual mobile devices on both ios and Android platforms, even if they have been reset or the application has been reinstalled. 2
Host Application Integrity Check: For Android-based systems, TrustDefender Mobile performs an integrity check of the application in which it is embedded, verifying that it is a genuine and unmodified version. For example, if a bank uses TrustDefender Mobile to protect its online banking application, any infection or unauthorized change would be detected. Malware Detection: For Android-based systems, TrustDefender Mobile analyzes and verifies the integrity of all apps installed on the device. At configurable, strategic points in the mobile application s workflow, signatures of all apps on the device are passed to the ThreatMetrix server. Through a partnership with Webroot s BrightCloud Mobile App Reputation Service, all apps present on the connecting device are analyzed by the ThreatMetrix server and their reputation is reported. Safe and reliable apps are identified as such. Any app that has been tampered with, contains malware, or has a poor reputation is also detected and reported in real-time. ThreatMetrix employs a number of methods to ensure that the malware detection features of TrustDefender Mobile don t degrade mobile device performance. For example, signatures of each app are stored locally on the device itself. This makes the data instantly available averting the need to re-scan each time the user connects. Similarly, all mobile app reputation and other relevant data from Webroot is stored on the ThreatMetrix server. Calls to Webroot are made by the server and only occur when a new mobile app is discovered and its data does not yet exist in the ThreatMetrix server. These technologies make TrustDefender Mobile s malware detection capabilities extremely efficient and effective. Location Services: Gather latitude and longitude information from the GPS hardware, and compare IP address with physical location to detect the use of proxies and VPNs. Rated to be accurate within meters, and can be configured to prolong battery life. Detects Jailbreak (ios) and Rooted (Android) Devices: Dynamic jailbreak and root detection technologies determine when device security controls have been thwarted. New jailbreak and root methods are pulled from the TrustDefender server during each device profile to keep the system up-to-date without requiring new application releases. This feature can report the actual number and method names of the jailbreak and root technologies being used. Anomaly Detection: This feature detects device tampering, attempts to masquerade as a different device, and a number of other anomalies that may indicate fraud. Packet Fingerprinting: Automatically detects device and data spoofing via analysis of the network traffic packet signatures originating from the device. Custom Attributes: TrustDefender Mobile includes five custom-defined local attributes, allowing application designers to pass their own parameters and have them evaluated by the policy engine. 3
TrustDefender Mobile includes powerful dynamic configuration features, which can be adjusted on-the-fly by the TrustDefender server. These features allow organizations to update the intelligence or change the behavior of the system without deploying new versions of the application. Since TrustDefender Mobile is not an MDM (mobile device management) system, elevated permissions and other concerns associated with MDM solutions do not apply. Full integration with TrustDefender Cybercrime Protection Platform TrustDefender Mobile is a fully integrated component within the TrustDefender Cybercrime Protection Platform. TrustDefender Mobile is one of three information gathering solutions that deliver data to the platform for context-based authentication and fraud-prevention analysis. The first is TrustDefender Cloud, which provides these services via a web browser, requiring no client-side application. Second, TrustDefender Client provides secure browsing for all Windows and OS-X based browsers via a small, downloadable application. Third, TrustDefender Mobile provides these same services for native mobile applications. All three mechanisms utilize the same infrastructure within the TrustDefender Cybercrime Protection Platform. An organization that adds TrustDefender Mobile to an existing ThreatMetrix solution will be able to leverage its present TrustDefender Cybercrime Protection API, policies, and policy engine. It is not necessary to alter or add additional policies. Customers may, however, add additional policies or rules specific to their mobile user base, if desired. All reports, alerts, and administration for TrustDefender Mobile are fully-integrated and present within the TrustDefender Cybercrime Protection Platform. Implementation and Integration Overview Implementing TrustDefender Mobile is a relatively simple procedure, and can be invoked via a single function call. If your existing web applications are already protected by ThreatMetrix, deployment can generally be accomplished within a few days. The following diagram demonstrates how TrustDefender Mobile integrates and interfaces with the native mobile application, the protected web application to which the user is connecting, and the TrustDefender Cybercrime Protection Platform. 4
TrustDefender Mobile Integration 1. Customer embeds TrustDefender Mobile SDK library into a native mobile application. 2. When an end user connects to a protected web application, the mobile application calls the SDK library, provides the Org and Session IDs, and initiates a device profile request. 3. After completing the device profile, the SDK library transmits the Session ID, Org ID, any custom attributes, and all device profile results data to the TrustDefender platform. 4. The mobile application transmits the Session ID to the protected web application with which the user is interacting. 5. Using the provided Session ID, the protected web application performs an API call to the TrustDefender Policy Engine to evaluate the session based on the company s policies and rules for the specific application. The TrustDefender API responds with a risk score and detailed information about the device, user, session, and other data from the shared Global Trust Intelligence Network, including Trust Tags and black-and-white lists. Using the risk score and data provided by the API, the protected web application can choose to approve, deny, or initiate further review of the transaction. 5
Compatibility Android Compatible with Android versions 2.3 (Gingerbread) and later. No known hardware incompatibilities with any Android devices. ios Compatible with ios versions 5.1 and later, running on armv7, armv7s, arm64, or i386 architectures. About ThreatMetrix ThreatMetrix builds trust on the Internet by offering market leading advanced fraud prevention and frictionless context based security solutions. These solutions authenticate consumer and workforce access to mission critical applications using real-time identity and access analytics that leverage the world s largest trusted identity network. ThreatMetrix secures enterprise applications against account takeover, payment fraud, fraudulent account registrations, malware, and data breaches. Underpinning the solution is the ThreatMetrix Digital Identity Network, which analyzes billions of transactions and protects hundreds of millions of active user accounts across tens of thousands of websites and mobile applications. The ThreatMetrix solution is deployed across a variety of industries, including financial services, enterprise, e-commerce, payments, social networks, government and insurance. For More Information: For more information about the TrustDefender Cybercrime Protection Platform, including TrustDefender Mobile, visit our website at www.threatmetrix.com. ThreatMetrix Inc. 160 W Santa Clara St Suite 1400 San Jose, CA, 95113 Telephone: +1 408 200 5755 2015 ThreatMetrix. All rights reserved. ThreatMetrix, TrustDefender ID, TrustDefender Client, TrustDefender Cloud, TrustDefender Mobile, ThreatMetrix SmartID, ThreatMetrix ExactID, the ThreatMetrix Cybercrime Protection Platform, and the ThreatMetrix logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of ThreatMetrix in the United States and other countries. All other brand, service or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies or owners. V-6.15 6