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    10 <!DOCTYPE concept

    11   PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DITA Concept//EN" "concept.dtd">

    12 <concept id="GUID-CC8EA664-FF2E-40FB-BC1C-89FB1255A9C9" xml:lang="en"><title>General

    13 protection principles</title><prolog><metadata><keywords/></metadata></prolog><conbody>

    14 <p>Paying attention to the general protection principles below increases

    15 security in mobile software.</p>

    16 <section id="GUID-221C271B-4E13-4666-803C-6BCB7BDD8C1E"><title>Prevention</title>

    17 <p><i>Prevention</i> is the key component in security threat management.

    18 Over the past few years, the approach to security has shifted from <i>reactive</i> to <i>proactive</i>,

    19 meaning that prevention is increasingly important. However, the reactive component

    20 is still necessary because security levels degrade over time due to information

    21 corruption, new attack methods and viruses, etc.</p>

    22 <p>By intercepting security breaches before they even happen you can create

    23 potentially safe applications and systems. However, even the most secure solutions

    24 may have weaknesses, so you should never place your trust in only one method.</p>

    25 </section>

    26 <section id="GUID-78A8158D-1F67-46BE-91AD-8227200B46D6"><title>Control</title>

    27 <p>If a security incident is about to happen, it is still possible to minimize

    28 and isolate damage with <i>control of events</i> and strong <i>internal borders</i>.

    29 By dividing the system or software into sufficiently small units, it is easier

    30 to control and manage security features. Division also helps to isolate infections

    31 within a single unit.</p>

    32 <p>Another useful control feature is the <i>minimum rights principle</i>,

    33 wherein each unit is given only the minimum rights to complete its tasks.

    34 Controls can be imposed by <i>authenticating</i> and <i>authoring</i> all

    35 traffic between units, and by limiting access rights of unidentified parties.

    36 These techniques can be applied from a single software component to an entire

    37 business system.</p>

    38 <p>From Symbian OS v9.1 onwards, <xref href="jar:GUID-35228542-8C95-4849-A73F-2B4F082F0C44.jar!/sdk/doc_source/guide/platsecsdk/index.html" format="application/java-archive">platform security</xref> implements

    39 control of events inside the operating system and creates borders for different

    40 security areas (for example, by means of <xref href="GUID-ACDED56F-38FE-491D-B019-BE2C53A75D28.dita">data

    41 caging</xref> and server protection). Platform security also implements the

    42 minimum rights principle.</p>

    43 <p>Additionally, there are <xref href="GUID-9058F379-C495-4B22-B270-FF6A80E450B8.dita#GUID-9058F379-C495-4B22-B270-FF6A80E450B8/GUID-9058F379-C495-4B22-B270-FF6A80E450B9">third-party

    44 security applications</xref> such as <i>antivirus software</i>, <i>firewalls,</i> and <i>intrusion

    45 detection systems</i> that provide good protection against hostile attacks

    46 when combined with strict <i>policies</i>.</p>

    47 </section>

    48 <section id="GUID-13186350-A3DC-4793-8D7A-7832086083AD"><title>Testing and validation</title>

    49 <p>Even the strongest security systems may have vulnerabilities which are

    50 not apparent until the application or product is in use. Software complexity

    51 and combinations of different technologies are known to increase the chance

    52 of software flaws. Software usually functions properly even when it is not

    53 secure. This is why extensive <i>testing and validation</i> are needed during

    54 development. The purpose of security testing is to find errors and flaws that

    55 may jeopardize the security and integrity of information stored in the mobile

    56 device.</p>

    57 <p>Traditional testing validates software against specifications, but security

    58 testing studies behavior and possible side effects in different environments.

    59 For example, <i>white hat hacking</i> attempts to identify vulnerabilities

    60 before malicious (black hat) hackers do. Common areas for security testing

    61 include user interfaces, information storage, communications, and the software's

    62 internal security (for example, algorithms, robustness, recovery).</p>

    63 <p>To have a complete evaluation of security features and risks, it is

    64 important to perform a full security analysis for every published version

    65 of an application.</p>

    66 </section>

    67 </conbody></concept>