Proguard and their impact on Android applications
The modern-day mobile application is susceptible to a wide range of security threats in adopting the best security practices to prevent attacks. The worst part is that less than 50 % of Android apps installed have proper security measures in place. What it means is that the apps are vulnerable to a range of security attacks including clone attacks, sensitive data loss and reputational damage along others. Another important point to be taken into account is app performance. Hence it is necessary to remove unnecessary applications or codes from the apps that enable them to work faster. For an open-source application code obfuscation is a definite must. Proguard is a tool that enables us to achieve the same.
The purpose of Proguard
Proguard is known to accomplish three main purposes, that is shrinking, optimization and obfuscation. This works out to be a free tool that is able to obfuscate, shrink and pre-verify the Java class files. It is mainly being used in Android applications along with larger versions of Java files and this is going to make reverse engineering difficult if not impossible.
Be aware of the fact that it works out to be an open security tool and you should not consider it as a comprehensive and multi-layered approach to security.Progaurd removes the unused variables and goes on to trim down the application size which is one of the important tools of the command line tool.
The benefits of implementing Progaurd
As discussed, earlier Progaurd is an open-line command source tool that is strongly recommended when it comes to Android applications. The readable feature of the code is decreased and hence it is known to enhance the security of the applications. Apart from enhancing security, it shrinks the applications to provide a complete package.
Compact configuration
Proguard is known to possess a template-based configuration when you compare it with the other form of Java obfuscators. This happens to be one of the major benefits of Proguard. It is possible to be using a few lines of intuitivecommand line or it can be a simple configuration file to enable Proguard.
Reverse engineering becomes a tough task
The moment you go on to apply relevant Proguard rules reverse engineering becomes a difficult task. Critical data is leaked and exposed if hackers are able to gain access to these applications. The application capabilities of reverse engineering do go on to prevent any form of reverse engineering attacks.
Protection against any form of static analysis
Hackers are known to be using statistical code in order to gain access to the security code of an application. With static analysis, the app source code along with the control flow could be interpreted by the hackers to have a better understanding of how it prevents in running of the app. Using Proguard is known to shield the ap against such form of vulnerabilities that arise in the first place.
