News

Firm Applies Machine Learning to Mobile App Security

• By David Ramel
• November 13, 2018

Facing ever-more-sophisticated attack vectors, companies like Zimperium are infusing emerging AI technologies like machine learning into their mobile app defense solutions.

That Dallas-based mobile threat defense specialist recently announced a trial of its latest such product, called zIAP, which comes in a software development kit (SDK) to provide in-app protection.

The company said the SDK form factor allows for up-to-date security via mobile app updates, while also claiming the in-app functionality avoids delays and limitations that can come in cloud-based solutions.

The machine learning capabilities are supplied by the product's z9 engine that goes to work whenever an app is activated by a user.

"z9 analyzes billions of data points from millions of devices to identify malicious behavior, and then creates sophisticated math models to enable on-device detection, allowing it to identify all attacks -- even those that have never been seen before," the company said. "In fact, z9 has detected every mobile exploit over the last five years, on-device and without requiring updates."

The SDK lets developers protect their apps against threats such as OS exploits, network attacks and malware, Zimperium said, while also fighting fraud and helping organizations keep their apps in compliance with regulations like HIPPA, PCI, GDPR and so on.

More information on the latest version of zIAP -- available for trial -- can be found in this blog post.