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How TrustPin WorksOverview

How TrustPin Works

TrustPin is a cloud-based certificate pinning platform that protects mobile applications from man-in-the-middle attacks, compromised Certificate Authorities, and other network-based threats.

What is TrustPin?

TrustPin provides dynamic certificate pinning for mobile and desktop applications. Instead of hardcoding certificate pins into your app, TrustPin delivers and manages pins remotely through a secure, globally distributed platform.

The Problem

Traditional SSL/TLS validation trusts any certificate signed by the 100+ Certificate Authorities (CAs) in your device’s trust store. This creates vulnerabilities:

  • Compromised CAs: If any CA is hacked, attackers can issue valid certificates for your domains
  • Rogue WiFi: Malicious hotspots can intercept traffic with forged certificates
  • Man-in-the-middle attacks: Network attackers can impersonate your servers
  • Government surveillance: State actors can compel CAs to issue surveillance certificates

The Solution

Certificate pinning restricts your app to trust only specific certificates or public keys. TrustPin makes this easy by:

  1. Managing pins remotely - Update pins without releasing new app versions
  2. Zero-downtime rotation - Seamlessly rotate certificates without breaking your app
  3. Global distribution - Deliver pin configurations through a fast, reliable CDN
  4. Cryptographic signing - Ensure configuration integrity with ECDSA signatures

Core Concepts

Certificate Pinning

Certificate pinning validates that a server’s certificate matches a pre-configured cryptographic hash (pin). TrustPin supports two pinning methods:

SPKI Pinning (Recommended):

  • Pins the public key structure, not the entire certificate
  • OWASP-recommended industry best practice for certificate pinning
  • Works with auto-managed certificates (AWS ACM, Let’s Encrypt) when combined with TrustPin’s dynamic updates
  • Requires coordination for renewal (pin changes unless keys are explicitly reused, which is rare)
  • Use this for production apps

Leaf Certificate Pinning:

  • Pins the entire certificate
  • Requires coordination for renewal (pin always changes)
  • Similar maintenance to SPKI (unless SPKI keys are reused)
  • Use only for manually managed certificates when full certificate validation is required

Pinning Modes

Strict Mode (Production):

  • Rejects ALL unregistered domains
  • Recommended for production apps
  • Maximum security

Permissive Mode (Development):

  • Allows unregistered domains to bypass pinning
  • Use only for development and testing
  • Logs pinning events for debugging

Configuration Signing

All configurations are signed with ECDSA P-256 to ensure integrity:

This prevents:

  • Configuration tampering
  • Man-in-the-middle attacks on the CDN
  • Unauthorized pin modifications

Configuration Sources

The SDK resolves its configuration in a fixed order of preference:

The optional embedded configuration covers the single case the first two cannot: an app’s very first start while every configuration source is unreachable. It is a last-resort fallback, never preferred over an online source or over a configuration already on the device, and it passes the same signature and integrity checks as any other configuration. Ship one only in apps protected by RASP. See the SDK Overview for the per-platform option.

Security Model

TrustPin implements multiple security layers:

Configuration Integrity

  • All configurations signed with ECDSA P-256
  • Signature verified on mobile devices
  • Prevents tampering and MITM attacks

Transport Security

  • TLS 1.2+ for all connections
  • A+ SSL Labs rating
  • HSTS enabled
  • Certificate Transparency enabled

Runtime Protection

  • Per-request certificate validation
  • Protects against compromised CAs
  • Detects rogue WiFi hotspots
  • Blocks man-in-the-middle attacks

Audit Logging

  • All configuration changes logged
  • Security events tracked
  • 1-year retention
  • GDPR compliant

Key Features

Remote Pin Management

Update certificate pins without releasing new app versions. Changes propagate to all devices within minutes.

Zero-Downtime Rotation

Configure multiple pins per domain to enable seamless certificate rotation:

Attack Prevention

TrustPin protects against:

Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) Attacks

  • Detects certificate mismatches
  • Rejects forged certificates
  • Logs security events

Compromised Certificate Authorities

  • Validates against specific pins
  • Ignores CA trust store
  • Prevents fraudulent certificates

Rogue WiFi Hotspots

  • Validates server certificates
  • Blocks SSL interception
  • Protects user credentials

DNS Spoofing

  • Certificate validation prevents impersonation
  • Pins tied to specific domains

TrustPin is one layer of defense in depth.

Performance

TrustPin adds minimal overhead to your application:

OperationOverheadFrequency
Initial Setup~100msOnce per app launch
Pin Fetch (CDN)50-200msEvery 10 minutes
Certificate Validation1-5msPer HTTPS request
Local Cache Lookup<1msNearly instant

Getting Started

  1. Sign up at app.trustpin.cloud 
  2. Create a project and configure domains
  3. Integrate the SDK into your mobile app
  4. Test in staging with permissive mode
  5. Deploy to production with strict mode

Learn More

Dive deeper into how TrustPin works:

Or get started:

Resources

DeploymentCertificate Pinning