Securely Passing Untampered Data from Flash Applications to Your Server

As technology continues to evolve, the need for secure data transmission between client applications and servers has become ever more critical. Developers working with legacy systems, like Flash applications, often face unique challenges when it comes to ensuring that the data they send over the internet is secure and untampered.

In this blog post, we will discuss commonly encountered issues related to passing data from Flash applications to servers, particularly focusing on securely transmitting and verifying the integrity of the data generated by users.

The Challenge: Ensuring Data Integrity

One primary concern for developers is guaranteeing that the data received by the server has not been tampered with during transmission. For instance, consider a scenario where a Flash-based game sends a user’s score to the server post-game. If a malicious actor gains access to manipulate that information, it could potentially lead to skewed data and unfair advantages.

Key Questions to Address

1. How can we ensure data integrity while transmitting scores or other sensitive data?
2. What methods can we implement to make tampering more difficult?

The Solution: Effective Strategies for Secure Data Transmission

While no solution is entirely hack-proof, there are several strategies you can adopt to secure data transmission and verify its integrity efficiently. Here are some actionable approaches:

1. Encrypt Data with a Public Key

Using encryption is one of the most effective methods to secure data being transmitted by a Flash application. Here’s how you can implement it:

• Generate a public-private key pair: The public key can be embedded in your application’s binary, while the private key remains secure on your server.
• Encryption Process: Before transmitting the data, encrypt it using the public key. This ensures that only your server, which possesses the private key, can decrypt and read the data securely.

2. Sanity Checking the Data

After the data reaches the server, it’s essential to perform sanity checks to validate the received information:

• Calculate the Maximum Possible Score: By analyzing gameplay and calculating the maximum score based on the time played, you can flag any scores that appear unrealistic or impossible.
• Transmit Game Logs: Sending detailed logs of the gameplay along with the score can provide an additional layer of verification. This way, the server can analyze the logs to ensure consistency with the reported score.

3. Utilize SSL Encryption

Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is a must-have for any secure data transmission:

• Native Support in Flash: Flash supports SSL natively, so you can easily enable it. This ensures that your data is encrypted during transit, making it significantly more challenging for unauthorized parties to decipher the information being sent to your server.

Conclusion

While it’s true that no system is entirely secure, utilizing encryption, sanity checks, and SSL can make it significantly more difficult for potential attackers to tamper with the data sent from your Flash application to the server. By implementing these strategies, you can greatly increase the security of data transmission and protect the integrity of your application and its users.

Remember that the objective is not necessarily to create an unhackable system, but rather to raise the barriers enough to deter all but the most determined adversaries. Start securing your data today, and you’ll contribute to a more trustworthy online environment for everyone.