Barbara Frederiksen-Cross, Susan Courtney, Johnson-Laird Inc.
The same characteristics that provide for cross-platform deployment of many modern software development languages also renders the software written in these languages extremely vulnerable to reverse engineering. At the same time, reverse engineering tools and techniques have become much more sophisticated. The convergence of these two developments creates substantial risk for software developers with respect to both the security of their software and protection of trade secrets and intellectual property that is embodied in the software.
Fortunately, the risks that reverse engineering poses to your intellectual property, competitive edge, and bottom line can be mitigated if you take proactive measures to protect your software against reverse engineering.
This paper first examines the ways in which software is vulnerable to reverse engineering and then explains techniques that may be incorporated into your software quality program to help protect your software assets against reverse engineering. The paper also discusses factors that must be considered and weighed when deciding which anti-reversing techniques to apply.
Barbara Frederiksen-Cross, Susan Courtney, 2011 Technical Paper, Abstract, Paper
