Risk management is an essential part of any project, and with app development there is a host of risks specific to the process that should be addressed.
Risks are defined as being things outside the control of the development team that can have an impact on the project, either positive or negative. The frequency and severity of the risks, and whether their impact will be positive or negative, must be considered.
It’s up to the project manager to identify what the risks are and write up a list. What the risks might be can sometimes be subjective, but there are some common things to look out for when it comes to app development.
What are the risks?
The risks with app development can be put into two categories: malicious functionality, and vulnerabilities.
Malicious functionality usually includes activity monitoring, data retrieval, unauthorized dialing, unauthorized network connections, UI impersonation, system modifications, and logic bombs. Vulnerabilities would include data leaks, unsafe data storage, unsafe data transmission, and hardcoded passwords.
These risk factors can lead to all sorts of crises arising from cyber attackers accessing the system. Personal data, financial info, and identity info can be extracted if an attacker finds a way in through a flaw in the system, and all the above mentioned risks can provide a way for them to do so.
How do you handle the risks?
Once the project manager narrows down what the risks are with the particular app under development, the next step is to determine what level of risk each one poses to the project. This can be dealt with by drawing up a 3×3 matrix table with low, mid, and high risk levels on side, and frequency on the other side.
When a risk arises, there are a number ways that it can be dealt with: mitigate, transfer, or
accept the risk. This is where the risk management plan comes into play.
What’s the plan?
You can’t plan to avoid risk, but you can reduce its severity. This means mitigating or transferring the risk somehow. This generally involves creating a list of what is considered sensitive information for the app, and then drawing up a checklist for how to handle each of those areas. In application development this often involves searching for unauthorized data transfers, or unauthorized users on the network.
If the risk level is considered very low, you might just consider accepting the risk and leaving it alone. This can be worthwhile if correcting the problem is not worth the time invested in dealing with it. This decision comes down to the project manager, and it is at his or her discretion whether to accept the risk, or fix the problem.
Mobile apps handle high volumes of data, and some of that data can compromise user security. Effective risk management is essential is making sure your app keeps your user information confidential and secure. Data leaks can be disastrous, so take the right steps to develop a plan to deal with the risk when it occurs and you will do your users a great service.
About the Author
Sakshi Sharma is a mobility strategist at SDI and author of this article. she loves blogging and has vast knowledge on Web Development and Mobile apps. She can be reached at team@sdi.la. For more details Please Visit softwaredevelopersindia.com or Follow SDI on Google Plus to learn more!