SafeWare
Abstract
The SafeWare program is developing new code obfuscation techniques for protecting software from reverse engineering. At present, adversaries can extract sensitive information from stolen software, which could include cryptographic private keys, special inputs/failsafe modes, and proprietary algorithms. Today's state of the art in software obfuscation adds junk code (loops that do nothing, renaming of variables, redundant conditions, etc.), which is not resilient against automated tools. Recent breakthroughs in theoretical cryptography have the potential to make software obfuscation into a mathematically rigorous science, very much like what the Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) algorithm did for the encryption of messages in the 1970's. In its present form, cryptographic obfuscation incurs too much runtime overhead to be practical. The SafeWare program will take this very early-stage obfuscation theory and re-tool its mathematical foundations to move it towards becoming practical and efficient.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2018
- Source ID
- db35bc062f30aad3b78842d524362ff3