iOS Security : How iOS provides Security to its users

iOS is one of the most popular mobile operating system in terms of security. First launched in 2007, Apple designed it exclusively for Apple hardware. iOS not only provides security to the data stored in the mobile phone but also protects against the malware errors that could be detected while using the internet services.

We use our mobile devices for almost everything. We are dependent on it for almost everything so much so that we store sensitive information. In this age where crime is prevalent, this information can be easily accessed. iOS protects not only the data stored in the iOS device, but also the data transmitted on networks when using internet services. iOS provides advanced and sophisticated security for iOS devices and it’s also very easy to use.

Here, we list a number of way through which iOS ensures cyber security.

System Security

This is central to keeping your devices secure. This ensures that both the hardware and software are securely integrated with each other to protect each element of the device.

• Secure Booting Process: iOS uses a mechanism called "secure boot chain" in which each step verifies if the next step of chain is valid and signed by Apple. The booting process will only proceed to the next step of chain if the verification succeeds.
• Touch ID security: Touch ID is a fingerprints sensor that can read fingerprints from the user. Passing the fingerprints verification, one can have secure access to the device, such as unlocking the iOS device, making purchases from the App Store, and making secure payment through Apple Pay.
• Secure Enclave: The Secure Enclave is a coprocessor for Apple’s A-series processor. It has its own secure boot whose tasks include key management, processing cryptographic operations and maintaining the data integrity.

Data security

Like mentioned earlier, keeping the device safe to outside interference is important but what’s more important is to safeguard the user’s data locally and remotely.

• Hardware security: Every device also has a unique UID while devices that have the common processors have the same group ID (GID). Data encrypted using the UID is tied to a particular device, hence if the memory chip is physically moved to another device, the encrypted files will not be accessible.
• File-Data Security: iOS protects the file data by constructing and managing a hierarchy of keys in conjunction with hardware encryption engine. When a file is created, the Data Protection system creates a 256-bit key and forwards it to the hardware AES engine, which will use the per-file key to encrypt the file.
• Passcodes: generally passcodes are considered to be 4-digit keywords for unlocking the iOS devices. But now it can be set as an arbitrary length alphanumeric passcode.
• Keychain Security: To protect sensitive information such as passwords, iOS uses keychain security. A keychain contains the version number, the access control list, a value indicating which protect class the item is in, a per-item key wrapped with the protection class key and a dictionary of attributes describing the item.  

App Security

With apps having access to almost all the information stored in our phone, it becomes inevitable to secure them.

• App reviewing and Code signing: apple ensures to filter buggy apps by issuing a verified developer certificate which has to be obtained by each developer before submitting their app to the apple store. After obtaining the said certificate and getting it reviwed, the apps are made available on the App Store.
• Runtime process Security: There is always a chance that an app can compromise other apps installed in your device. But apple uses a mechanism called Sandbox to prevent that from happening. Apps are restricted from accessing files associated with other apps and making secure changes to the device. In addition, 3rd-party apps have limited resources when performing background tasks.

Network and Internet services security   

Almost everybody is connected through the net today. That serves to solve a lot of communication problems but with that arise a host of different issues – security being the most prominent.

• iOS supports Secure Socket Layer as well as Transport Layer Security. Built-in apps such as Safari, Mail use these protocols securely communicate with remote servers.
• iMessage is a very popular message service provided by Apple. Users can communicate with each other through iMessage as long as one of them is using an iOS or OS X devices. When iMessage is turned on, encryption keys are generated.  The private keys for those two keys are stored in the device’s keychain. The public keys are sent to Apple’s directory service, which is responsible for storing user’s identification, his/her associated public keys and devices’ APNs addresses.
• Apple’s iCloud is used to store contacts, photos, calendar and other documents such that they are synchronized on all of the user’s iOS devices. Files stored on iCloud are broken into blocks and encrypted using keys that is derived from the block’s contents.

Conclusion

Such as every other security system in the world, even Apple’s iOS security is penetrable. Malicious 3rd party apps still make their way into phones to sabotage its security. What’s more concerning is that even legitimate apps ask for personal information to generate user based ads. This is a cause of huge concern since you don’t know where your data is going. Even if it has it’s share of troubles, iOS is still one of the most secure mobile operating system .