Welcome to the fifth article in our OWASP Mobile Top 10 2024 series! In previous articles we covered M1: Improper Credential Usage, M2: Inadequate Supply Chain Security, M3: Insecure Authentication/Authorization, and M4: Insufficient Input/Output Validation. Today we discuss why "we already use HTTPS" isn't a sufficient answer.

Introduction

M5 is the most misleading item on the list, because most teams read it and move on: "We use HTTPS, this doesn't apply to us."

OWASP's definition is far broader. This risk covers all aspects of getting data from point A to point B, but doing it insecurely. It encompasses mobile-to-mobile communications, app-to-server communications, or mobile-to-something-else communications. It includes all communications technologies that a mobile device might use: TCP/IP, WiFi, Bluetooth/Bluetooth-LE, NFC, audio, infrared, GSM, 3G, SMS, etc.

So M5 isn't just "do you use HTTPS." It's all of this: