iOS 7 Programming Cookbook

8.0. Introduction

Security is at the heart of iOS and OS X. You can use security functions in iOS to store data or files securely in different storage spaces. For instance, you can ask iOS to lock and secure your app’s data files stored on disk if the user has enabled a passcode for her device and her device is locked. If you do not explicitly ask for this, iOS will not use any secure storage for your app, and your app data will be available to be read by a process that has access to read your device’s filesystem. There are a variety of Mac applications out there that can explore an iOS device’s filesystem without the iOS device being jailbroken.

Note

Jailbreaking is the process of enabling root access and removing many protection layers built on top of an operating system, such as iOS. For instance, on a jailbroken device, an application can execute an unsigned binary. However, on a normal iOS device, for an app to be able to get executed on the device, it has to be signed either by Apple through the App Store, or through a verified iOS developer portal.

Apple has had Keychain Access in OS X for a long time. Keychain Access is a program that allows OS X users to store data securely on their computers. Built on top of the Common Data Security Architecture, or CDSA, the Keychain Access and other security functionalities in OS X are available to programmers like us. Keychain Access can manage various keychains. Every keychain itself can contain secure data such as passwords. For instance, ...