Analyzing Code Injection Attacks on Applications of Android Devices and Emulator

The Android operating system released by Google in 2007 has experienced very significant development. In 2019, the number of Android application users reached 2.5 billion. One of the contributing factors is the nature of the android application, which is very flexible and easy to install. Users can download APK files on the internet. Generally, APK files are stored in archive format, so they are pretty easy to manage. However, APK files may be used to spread malware behind this convenience. This study aims to provide an overview of the process of planting malware/backdoor on Android applications and how to prevent it. This study initiated the injection of malicious code on five android applications, namely WhatsApp, Telegram, DroidCam, Fifa Mobile, and Tokopedia. According to the results, four applications were successfully injected, while one application failed. The failure most likely occurred as a result of the application’s source code being obfuscated. Obfuscation is therefore strongly advised for Android applications to prevent code injection that could potentially lead to malware insertion.