An investigation into security aspects addressed during the development of enterprise mobile applications

Abstract

The rapid escalation in the use of mobile devices in enterprises has also increased the number of enterprise mobile applications (EMAs) being developed. It seems that security is not comprehensively defined in the software development methodologies (SDMs) of mobile applications. The purpose of the study is to acquire knowledge of whether enterprises that use mobile device architectures have adequate security measures in place regarding information assets and processes when developing mobile applications. The approach of this study is interpretative in nature. Extensive literature reviews of SDMs and security aspects were done. This was followed by case studies conducted at companies where interviews from experts were mainly used to gather data on the development of EMAs. Theme analysis and cross-case analysis to provide were used to create a framework that may be used as a guideline for developing EMAs by incorporating security aspects. The findings of the study include that little is revealed in literature regarding security implementations during the development of mobile software and that the methodologies for developing mobile applications are not well described in terms of security processes. This study contributes towards the discipline of secure software development and specifically EMAs by presenting a framework with guidelines to developers to include security when developing EMAs