Find and Validate Exploitable Vulnerabilities Across iOS and Android
Your mobile applications run on devices you do not control and ship every few weeks. Synack Red Team researchers test iOS and Android applications, their APIs and the services behind them, then deliver validated findings through the Synack Platform.
Mobile testing, orchestrated end to end
Activate security researchers with specialized iOS and Android expertise, monitor testing and validated findings in real time, and manage remediation and retesting through the Synack Platform.
A mobile application ships its logic to the device, stores data on hardware your team does not manage, and calls back-end services that are often tested separately, if at all. These four areas commonly expose exploitable risk across iOS and Android applications.
iOS and Android differ in sandboxing, Keychain and Keystore behavior, inter-process communication and permission models. Researchers test each operating system on its own terms, including how the application behaves on jailbroken or rooted devices and how much the binary gives away under reverse engineering.
Applications cache more than teams expect: tokens in shared preferences and property list files, records in local databases, sensitive values in logs, backups and screenshots. Weak certificate validation then exposes that data in transit on untrusted networks.
Mobile sessions span biometric unlock, refresh tokens, deep links and long-lived sessions. Weaknesses here let an attacker keep access after logout, move between user roles, or bypass device binding and step up authentication.
Most of the business logic sits behind the API. Broken object level authorization, API endpoints beyond those exposed through the mobile interface, and secrets extracted from the binary can give an attacker a route to back-end data without using the application as intended.
From the application on your customer's device to the APIs and services behind it, Synack tests the complete mobile experience for exploitable risk.
Human-led penetration testing across the complete mobile experience
Testing aligns with established mobile security standards, helping teams communicate coverage clearly to auditors, customers and internal stakeholders.
Mobile testing looks for the same thing as any penetration test: exploitable risk. What changes is where that risk lives. These considerations are specific to mobile, and they shape how an engagement is scoped and run.
Each of these changes how an engagement is scoped and what evidence a finding needs. Researchers work against real builds on both operating systems, and test the services the application depends on rather than the interface alone.
Mobile testing sits alongside application penetration testing and API penetration testing, which cover web applications and APIs. Many organizations run them together to see risk across the whole attack surface.
Synack delivers mobile application pentesting through the Synack Platform, combining expert human testing with centralized orchestration, real-time visibility and remediation workflows. Synack Red Team researchers uncover complex mobile vulnerabilities and validate exploitability, so your teams can focus on the risks that matter. The Synack Platform also brings mobile testing together with AI penetration testing for web applications and infrastructure, providing one view of risk across your attack surface.
Test both operating systems under one scope, across native and hybrid builds, together with the APIs and back-end services behind them. You get one view of mobile risk rather than separate results that never line up.
Business logic abuse, session handling flaws, permission misuse and chained exploits need someone to reason about how the application is meant to work. Researchers with iOS and Android experience test the paths automated tools cannot judge.
Findings arrive in the Synack Platform as they are validated, with evidence, severity and remediation guidance. Security and development teams work from the same record and route findings into the tools they already use.
Request patch verification once a fix ships and get confirmation the vulnerability is closed. Testing across releases turns a point-in-time assessment into continuous pentesting at scale, with a record of how posture changes over time.
Four steps, from scope to verified fix.
Define the application and its builds, the operating systems and versions in scope, user roles and test accounts, the APIs and back-end services to include, and any testing requirements such as compliance drivers or exclusions.
Synack activates qualified Synack Red Team researchers with relevant iOS and Android testing experience. Testing starts on your schedule, and coverage analytics show which components and flows are being exercised while the test runs.
Researchers test for platform-specific weaknesses, insecure local storage, authentication and session flaws, business logic abuse and API vulnerabilities. Each finding is validated and documented with reproduction steps and evidence before it reaches you.
Findings are delivered through the Synack Platform with severity, evidence and remediation guidance, and can be routed into your existing vulnerability management workflow. When a fix ships, request patch verification and confirm the vulnerability is resolved.
Mobile application pentesting is penetration testing of a mobile application and the services it depends on. Testers examine the application on iOS or Android devices, the data it stores locally, how it communicates over the network, how it handles authentication and sessions, and the APIs and back-end services it calls. The goal is to identify vulnerabilities an attacker could actually exploit, confirmed with evidence rather than reported as unverified scanner output.
Yes. Both platforms can be covered under one engagement, including native and hybrid builds. Because iOS and Android differ in sandboxing, key storage, permission models and inter-process communication, researchers test each platform against its own behavior rather than applying one generic checklist to both.
Testing covers the classes of risk that produce real impact on mobile, including:
Yes. Most of a mobile application's logic runs behind its APIs, so testing them is part of covering the mobile ecosystem rather than a separate exercise. Testing can include API endpoints beyond those directly exposed through the mobile interface, based on the agreed engagement scope. Organizations with a broad API footprint often pair this with API penetration testing.
Yes. Patch verification can be requested through the Synack Platform once a fix has shipped, and the result is recorded against the original finding. Teams that release frequently run testing across releases so mobile coverage keeps pace with the application rather than expiring after a single assessment.
Mobile pentesting covers what a web application pentest does not reach on the device itself. The application binary is distributed to users and can be downloaded and reverse engineered, sensitive data may sit on devices your team does not manage, iOS and Android apply different security models, and the application interacts with device permissions, deep links and local storage. Remediation can also depend on app-store distribution, so a fix may take longer to reach every user. Web application pentesting remains the right approach for the server-side attack surface, and many organizations run both.
See how Synack scopes a mobile engagement, activates researchers with iOS and Android experience, and delivers validated findings with patch verification through one platform.
