Vision: automated security validation of mobile apps at app markets

Smartphones and "app" markets are raising concerns about how third-party applications may misuse or improperly handle users' privacy-sensitive data. Fortunately, unlike in the PC world, we have a unique opportunity to improve the security of mobile applications thanks to the centralized nature of app distribution through popular app markets. Thorough validation of apps applied as part of the app market admission process has the potential to significantly enhance mobile device security. In this paper, we propose AppInspector, an automated security validation system that analyzes apps and generates reports of potential security and privacy violations. We describe our vision for making smartphone apps more secure through automated validation and outline key challenges such as detecting and analyzing security and privacy violations, ensuring thorough test coverage, and scaling to large numbers of apps.