Charlie Fairchild, senior Android developer at WillowTree Apps, writes in a column for InformationWeek that developers should be aware of five security dangers when creating apps:

1. Insecure data storage: Design apps in such a way that critical information such as passwords and credit card numbers do not reside directly on a device. If they do, they must be stored securely. For iOS, passwords should be stored within an encrypted data section in the iOS keychain. For Android, they should reside within encrypted storage in the internal app data directory, and the app should be marked to disallow backup.

2. Weak server-side controls: Servers that an app is accessing (whether they're your own or the servers of any third-party system your app may be accessing) should have security measures in place to prevent unauthorized users from accessing data. It's critical that back-end services be hardened against malicious attackers.

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