How to Detect Mobile Emulator and Device Spoofing Fraud

A hacker’s first step in attacking a mobile application is to emulate it. Emulators are simulated environments that allow hackers to see how an app works, decode its file structure, working procedures and codebase to find vulnerabilities they can exploit.

How to detect mobile emulators and device spoofing, emulators are used to bypass security measures in place on real devices by mimicking the device’s system parameters and appearance. This allows fraudsters to commit a wide range of attacks, including app install scams, account creation/change fraud, and mobile ad fraud.

How to Detect Mobile Emulators and Prevent Device Spoofing

The problem is that emulators can spoof a variety of device parameters, making it difficult to spot them. For example, an emulator can pretend to be a mobile phone by altering its device identifier or even changing the MAC address of the computer on which it is running.

Detecting emulators requires a wide range of detection methods. Some of these techniques include checking USB data, analyzing device build values such as IMEI and IMSI (which return NULL on emulators), detecting discrepancies in system properties and behavioral anomalies, and leveraging network indicators to determine if the app is being run on a real or an emulator.

By combining multiple detection methods, security leaders can confidently detect advanced tactics to disguise emulator use. This helps to protect against mobile emulator and device spoofing fraud, enabling organizations to better understand the nature of the threats they face and prevent their spread. In addition, detecting emulators helps to reduce the amount of resources that must be expended on testing apps across a broad range of physical devices.