Akande Simpa
Akande Simpa Lead Security Engineer & Cofounder, Simpa Labs CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker)

Why a mobile-specific checklist matters

Web app pentesting and mobile app pentesting are fundamentally different disciplines. Mobile apps run on devices you do not control, in environments you cannot predict, with local storage you cannot protect from a rooted device. The OWASP MASVS defines eight categories of mobile security verification. We have adapted them here with specific focus on what matters for Nigerian fintech apps processing real money.

This is the checklist we use internally at Simpa Labs when conducting mobile penetration tests for fintech clients. It is not exhaustive—every app has unique attack surfaces—but it covers the critical areas where we consistently find vulnerabilities.

1. Data storage and privacy

Mobile devices get stolen, shared, and backed up to the cloud. Every piece of sensitive data stored locally is a liability.

2. Cryptography

Broken or weak cryptography exposes everything the encryption was meant to protect.

3. Authentication and session management

The authentication flow is the primary target for account takeover attacks.

Most Common Finding

Client-side biometric bypass

The single most common critical finding in Nigerian fintech mobile pentests: biometric authentication that checks a local boolean flag rather than requiring cryptographic proof from the hardware keystore. An attacker on a rooted device can hook the biometric callback with Frida and always return "success"—bypassing fingerprint or face verification entirely. The fix is to use BiometricPrompt with a CryptoObject tied to an Android Keystore key.

4. Network security

All communication between the app and backend must be protected against interception.

5. Platform interaction

How the app interacts with the OS and other apps on the device.

6. Code quality and build configuration

7. Resilience against reverse engineering

For fintech apps, resilience against reverse engineering is not optional.

Want this checklist tested against your app by security engineers who do this every day? We will assess every category, document findings with severity ratings, and deliver a remediation roadmap.

Book a Mobile App Pentest

8. API security (the mobile app's backend)

A mobile pentest is incomplete without testing the APIs the app communicates with. This overlaps with our API security assessment scope:

When to test

Do not wait until the Play Store rejects your app. Test before your first launch, before each major release, after integrating new payment or KYC SDKs, and at minimum annually. The cost of a pentest is a fraction of the cost of a breach, and the investment scales with your app's complexity.

Related reading

Blog: 10-Point Fintech Security Checklist · How Our Pentest Works · Security Audit Before Launch

Guides: Mobile App Pentest Nigeria · OWASP for Fintech · How to Book a Pentest

Services: Penetration Testing · API Security · Vulnerability Assessment

Frequently asked questions

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