Security Analysis and Threat Modelling of Mobile Banking Applications

Technology revolution has transformed the way consumers interact with financial institutions. With SMS and applications, the usage of mobile banking has exploded. With 5.22 billion mobile banking customers worldwide, the financial transactions made through mobile banking crosses into trillions. Though this has eased tedious banking processes, threats are rampant. Threats range from simple malwares to serious crimes threatening safety of financial assets and causing irreversible losses. This paper aims to collate the 5 major threats to banking applications (and also in the context of SMS), provide an objectified view of how vulnerabilities in mobile banking applications could cause these threats and ways to address them. This comprehensive review provides a threat modelling framework that help in detection and mitigation strategies for these threats.