Analysis and Enhancement of the Android Permission System

With the increasing popularity of mobile operating systems in general and the Android operating system specifically, new threats developed targeting mobile devices and said operating systems. Android has become one of the most important mobile operating systems within the last years and, hence, an often targeted system. In this thesis, the Android permission system is analyzed with regard to the level of security it provides to its users and an Android application is developed increasing that level. The permission system is taken into focus, because it is seen as a fatal flaw within the Android security architecture. Using recent papers, weak spots are revealed and goals are developed from them. To achieve these goals, certain enhancements need to be added to the Android system. These enhancements are presented and function as a foundation for the developed application, while keeping the system as simple as possible. The developed application, PermissionControl, is a tool inheriting most of these goals. In a subsequent evaluation it can be shown that the tool manages to highly decrease the security risks of the Android system.