eMAPTv3 Certification Achieved!

Overview

I’m proud to announce that I have earned the eMAPT (eLearnSecurity Mobile Application Penetration Tester) certification from INE! 🎉
This certification focuses on advanced mobile security, covering both Android and iOS application penetration testing through fully hands-on labs and a challenging practical exam.

The eMAPT is recognized as one of the most respected certifications in the field of mobile application security, making it an important milestone in my journey as a penetration tester.

Why eMAPT?

The eMAPT certification allowed me to deepen my understanding of mobile application security from both the attacker and defender perspectives.
It covers modern attack techniques, mobile OS internals, and real-world exploitation scenarios, making it ideal for anyone aiming to specialize in mobile pentesting.

Key Takeaways

Throughout the preparation and exam, I gained strong experience in areas such as:

• Android Application Penetration Testing: Decompiling, reversing, tampering, and exploiting Android apps using advanced tooling.
• Mobile Reversing Techniques: Using tools and frameworks to reverse engineer mobile applications and extract sensitive information.
• Dynamic Instrumentation with Frida: Hooking, modifying runtime behavior, and bypassing security controls.
• API Security Testing: Identifying weaknesses in mobile backends, authentication flows, rate limits, and authorization logic.
• Cryptography & Storage Issues: Detecting insecure storage, broken encryption, and improper session handling.
• Bypassing Protections: Circumventing root/jailbreak detection, certificate pinning, obfuscation, and in-app security layers.

Tools & Resources

Some of the primary tools and technologies I used include:

• Frida & Objection: For dynamic instrumentation and runtime manipulation.
• MobSF: Automated static and dynamic analysis of mobile applications.
• APKTool & JADX: For decompiling and reversing Android apps.
• Burp Suite: Intercepting and manipulating app traffic.
• adb & Android Studio: Testing apps on emulators and physical devices.
• Wireshark: Analyzing network communication.
• Custom Scripts: Python and JavaScript scripts for payload injections and bypass techniques.

Challenges Faced

The eMAPT exam is highly practical and requires strong knowledge of mobile platforms and their security mechanisms.
Some of the most challenging elements included:

• Reversing heavily obfuscated mobile apps.
• Circumventing SSL pinning and root/jailbreak detection.
• Building custom Frida hooks for runtime manipulation.
• Identifying subtle vulnerabilities in complex mobile APIs.
• Linking client-side flaws with backend issues to build full attack chains.

These challenges pushed me to think creatively and strengthened my confidence in handling real-world mobile security assessments.

Conclusion

Achieving the eMAPT certification has significantly enhanced my expertise in mobile application penetration testing.
It provided deep insights into Android and iOS security, advanced reversing skills, and hands-on experience with modern tools and techniques.