Computing Science INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION USING OBFUSCATION
نویسنده
چکیده
In this technical report, we discuss the use of code obfuscation as means of protecting the intellectual property of software. An obfuscation is a behaviour preserving program transformation which aims to make a program harder to understand (which can mean it becomes unintelligible to automated program comprehension tools or that the result of program analyses become less useful to a human adversary). This report consists of three main parts. The first part of the report discusses some of the possible definitions of obfuscation and gives an extensive survey of some of the current obfuscation techniques. The second part considers a report written by University of Applied Sciences of Upper Austria, Hagenberg which discuss a variety of different protection techniques (including obfuscation). The last part reviews the techniques that we have seen so far. We provide an analysis of some of the reasons why current obfuscators are generally weak and why some of the better obfuscation techniques have not been implemented. Finally, we give recommendations for how better obfuscators can be created using obfuscation techniques which have not yet been implemented. Acknowledgements I would like to thank to Siemens AG, Munich for sponsoring the work and, in particular, Barbara Fichtinger, my contact in Siemens, who gave constructive comments during the writing of this report.
منابع مشابه
A Relational Model for Software Protection Metrics
Software obfuscation and tamper-proofing algorithms have been widely deployed to protect the intellectual property associated with distributed software and to guard against unintended usage. It has been found that these algorithms tend to make programs larger, slower and raise caching concerns. This paper addresses the relative performance aspects of a few popular software protection algorithms...
متن کاملCode Obfuscation Literature Survey
In this paper we survey the current literature on code obfuscation and review current practices as well as applications. We analyze the different obfuscation techniques in relation to protection of intellectual property and the hiding of malicious code. Surprisingly, the same techniques used to thwart reverse engineers are used to hide malicious code from virus scanners. Additionally, obfuscati...
متن کاملProgram Obfuscation Scheme Using Random Numbers to Complicate Control Flow
For the security technology that has been achieved with software in the computer system and the protection of the intellectual property right of software, software protection technology is necessary. One of those techniques is called obfuscation, which converts program to make analysis difficult while preserving its function. In this paper, we examine the applicability of our program obfuscatio...
متن کاملChemical Engineering Software and Legal Protection Thereof
In recent years, an increasing number of Chemical Engineering Software (CES), which play an important role in improving efficiency in the petroleum industry, has been introduced to the market. Generally, software is the product of intellectual creativity, but protection of the intellectual property residing in software is the subject of some controversy. This paper explores the ...
متن کاملOn the Effectiveness of Source Code Transformations for Binary Obfuscation
Obfuscation is gaining momentum as a protection mechanism for the intellectual property contained within or encapsulated by software. Usually, one of the following three directions is followed: source code obfuscation is achieved through source code transformations, Java bytecode obfuscation through transformations on the bytecode, and binary obfuscation through binary rewriting. In this paper,...
متن کامل