of data and con-trol flow across language boundaries are generally less de-veloped than single-language analysis tools, and potential interactions with different native code libraries in multiple platforms leaves a lot to analyze.
Next, there was a lively discussion about the amount of responsible due-diligence an app store should take in testing incoming apps. Apps may have security bugs due to reliance on third-party libraries.
The discussion went into how there is little time for aca-demics to work on new secure coding tools. Educating de-velopers to write secure code is lacking in most curricula. A traditional CS degree does not give practical advice for basic security needs, such as how to implement SSL and how to use encryption. Cutting corners in education and during de-velopment leads to insecure code. The panel sees a gap be-tween what education provides and what industry wants. Even for students or professionals that have been trained in secure coding, APIs and language features change so often that it is hard to keep up. Communication is a core need, and there is a lot of confusion over how to correctly use secure communication methods like SSL. Garret mentioned that CERT provides free, open-source tools like CERT Tapioca and Basic File Fuzzer that anyone can download and use to help secure their code, and to check the security of code writ-ten by others that you use. Recent CERT Tapioca tests by his colleague revealed widespread incorrect use of certificates by many popularly-used Android apps, sufficient to allow MITM attacks in many cases.
The panel ended on a positive note. The participants agree there are many existing tools which can be used to help se-cure coding and to test code for code flaws. Further, there is a lot of room for improvement in usability of existing tools, and in education about secure coding and secure communi-cations, and so there is rational hope for improving secure coding for mobile devices in the future. 52
Acknowledgments
Our thanks to the panel and to the rest of the 2015 Mo-bileDeLi Workshop participants, for an interesting, insight-ful discussion about mobile security.