{"id":19647,"date":"2023-11-01T23:40:58","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T23:40:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/leadership\/appdome-ceo-tom-tovar-talks-his-companys-mission-android-accessibility-service-attacks-more-in-interview\/"},"modified":"2023-11-01T23:40:59","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T23:40:59","slug":"appdome-ceo-tom-tovar-talks-his-companys-mission-android-accessibility-service-attacks-more-in-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=19647","title":{"rendered":"Appdome CEO Tom Tovar Talks His Company\u2019s Mission, Android Accessibility Service Attacks, More In Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

In a press release issued in late September, Bay Area-based mobile security company Appdome announced so-called \u201cnew mobile anti-malware protections\u201d which detect various kinds of Android Accessibility Service malware. According to Appdome, malware of this type is oftentimes used to \u201ccarry out large scale, distributed attacks on mobile banking apps, crypto wallets, and other financial services apps.\u201d<\/p>\n

On its website, Appdome describes itself as the \u201cone-stop shop for mobile app defense.\u201d The company\u2019s technologies enable organizations to \u201cbuild, test, release and monitor all mobile app protections in one unified platform in the DevOps CI\/CD pipeline [and] accelerate the delivery of mobile app security, anti-fraud, anti-malware, anti-cheat, anti-bot and other defenses in Android & iOS apps.\u201d In the press release, Appdome said the Android Accessibility Service is the operating system\u2019s \u201cframework designed to allow mobile applications for individuals who are disabled to interact with all applications on an Android device.\u201d As Appdome explains, the problem is Android Accessibility Service is often targeted by hackers and other fraudsters. Ergo, this makes already vulnerable members of the disability community all the more vulnerable when trying to use their Android-based smartphone or other device.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a difficult problem to solve,” said Appdome co-founder and chief executive Tom Tovar in a statement included in the company\u2019s press release. \u201cTo support the community, we created a defense that allows legitimate use of Accessibility Service, while at the same time prevents ATS malware from using Accessibility Service for nefarious purposes.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with me conducted last month over email, Tovar told me Appdome\u2019s automation platform is designed to help businesses keep mobile apps sd safe and secure as possible by \u201celiminating the guesswork, coding, engineering effort, and complexity often associated with cyber projects.\u201d The end result of Appdome\u2019s efforts, he said, is \u201cbetter, faster protection for all mobile end users, brands, and businesses that rely on mobile apps to do things and get things done.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/fbs-ad><\/p>\n

As to the aforementioned Android Accessibility Service framework, Tovar called it \u201camazing\u201d technology that essentially \u201c[provides] a mechanism for mobile applications to serve individuals with disabilities through third-party applications.\u201d It\u2019s a critical element in the system because, as Tovar noted, the framework helps allow users to harness accessibility features such as the TalkBack screen reader, gesture controls, and more in order to make their computer(s) more inclusive and accessible. The challenge for users (and Appdome) is the less scrupulous lot amongst us have decided to take advantage of the Accessibility Service framework by building malware that \u201cplugs into the same event framework and use this access to monitor users, steal credentials and perform transactions without the actual user\u2019s knowledge.\u201d The good news is Tovar and team fortunately has \u201cfigured out several ways to catch this malicious activity in the act and stop the abuse and misuse\u201d of Accessibility Service.<\/p>\n

Although Appdome\u2019s recent announcement focuses on disabled people and, by extension, the disability community, Tovar emphasized the company truly is in the business of \u201cmaking [development, security, and operations] better\u201d for all<\/em> users. He said \u201cproper mobile defense\u201d affects everyone, telling me \u201cmodern mobile attack surface is too broad, dynamic and sophisticated for end users to defend themselves effectively.\u201d Moreover, while Tovar acknowledged there may<\/em> be a small subset of people who nerd out and keep up with security matters, there\u2019s no reason they should have to do so. Likewise, the majority of people have neither the knowledge nor the desire to decipher such material. That\u2019s where Appdome comes in. Its tools, Tovar told me, \u201cmake the job of delivering on this expectation easy and painless for the developer.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Tovar\u2019s point, it\u2019s also true Appdome\u2019s work is accessibility unto itself. This particular context involves the Android Accessibility Service, which obviously is aimed at bonafide accessibility. The truth is Appdome makes mobile security more accessible to those people who don\u2019t know (or don\u2019t care) about keeping up with the myriad attack vectors and any defenses. In other words, Appdome is helping further accessibility in both senses of the word. The distinctions aren\u2019t at all trivial.<\/p>\n

Feedback on Appdome\u2019s work has been positive and the \u201cmost exciting part of our journey,\u201d Tovar said. It\u2019s a different world today than when Appdome initially launched seven years ago; to the company\u2019s mission, there weren\u2019t as many protections back then as they are now. What began with a handful of protections for better security has grown to \u201c30 to 100 protections\u201d as the Appdome team kept working and innovating. In sum, Tovar said he\u2019s \u201cincredibly happy\u201d with the feedback from users.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, I don\u2019t know of a single customer who isn\u2019t trying to use all of what we have to offer,\u201d he said of customer response. \u201cWe took the friction out of doing the right thing\u2014for the brand, the business and the users. The private and public feedback has been amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about his visions for the future, Tovar was frank in saying Appdome has \u201ca lot of work to do to keep the mobile app economy safe and secure.\u201d He added the exploit economy is \u201calive and thriving\u201d right now, and Appdome feels a heavy responsibility to rise to the difficult challenge because there\u2019s no end in sight to the onslaught of threats.<\/p>\n

\u201cMobile brands, our customers, partners, and the entire global mobile end-user community have our commitment to staying ahead of attacks and threats that target users, transactions, data and the integrity of the mobile app economy,\u201d Tovar said of Appdome\u2019s future plans. \u201cWe\u2019re not done by any means. [We] will make sure you can continue to enjoy using your mobile applications.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a press release issued in late September, Bay Area-based mobile security company Appdome announced so-called \u201cnew mobile anti-malware protections\u201d which detect various kinds of Android Accessibility Service malware. According to Appdome, malware of this type is oftentimes used to \u201ccarry out large scale, distributed attacks on mobile banking apps, crypto wallets, and other financial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19648,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19647","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-leadership"},"yoast_head":"\nAppdome CEO Tom Tovar Talks His Company\u2019s Mission, Android Accessibility Service Attacks, More In Interview | Brandiary<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a press release issued in late September, Bay Area-based mobile security company Appdome announced so-called \u201cnew mobile anti-malware protections\u201d\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, 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