Cryptographic Analysis: Popular Social Media Applications and Mitigations of Vulnerabilities

In this paper, we have conducted a cryptographic analysis of the most widely used Android social media applications. In Android social media applications, cryptography plays a vital role in protecting data and communication. End-to-end encryption, digital signatures, authentication and authorization, password hashing, data encryption, Transport Layer Security (TLS), blockchain, and decentralized social networks are some of the important uses of cryptography in social media applications. However, inappropriate use of cryptography in social media applications can result in data leaks, financial losses, identity theft, breaches of privacy, exploitation of vulnerabilities, and an adverse user experience. Therefore, developers must follow the best practices for cryptography in order to strengthen the cybersecurity of these applications. In this paper, we present the cryptographic analysis of 10 popular Android social media applications. Firstly, we have conducted static analysis of these applications. We have assessed the findings based on some cryptographic issues such as the random number generator, cipher and padding, cipher configuration, hashing algorithm, and cryptographic classes. We have also identified vulnerable issues in the cryptography of the applications and provided remedies. Our cryptographic evaluation can strengthen the cybersecurity of any Android social media application.