SafeWare
Abstract
The SafeWare program will develop new code obfuscation techniques for protecting software from reverse engineering. At present, adversaries can extract sensitive information from stolen software, which can include cryptographic private keys, special inputs/failsafe modes, proprietary algorithms and even the software architecture itself. Today's state of the art in software obfuscation adds junk code (loops that do nothing, renaming of variables, redundant conditions, etc.) which unfortunately does little more than inconvenience the aggressor. 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. The SafeWare program aims to take this very early-stage theory, which in its present form incurs too much runtime overhead to be practical, and re-tool its mathematical foundations such that one day it will be practical and efficient. As with RSA, SafeWare methods will require the solution of a computationally hard mathematical problem as a necessary condition for a successful de-obfuscation attack. SafeWare is addressing basic research issues encountered in Safer Warfighter Computing (SAFER) in PE 0602303E, Project IT-03.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2016
- Source ID
- e6dfafa04b15488056ed6b2e05cea837