In software engineering, code obfuscation is the intentional act of making a machine or source code difficult for humans to decipher. As opposed to other forms of code, it can utilize needless, roundabout phrases to write ambiguous statements. Such techniques are employed to make the code less susceptible to being reverse-engineered. There are two types of code obscurity:
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What is obfuscation in security?
This is known as obfuscation. The goal of obfuscation is to anonymize cyberattacks, reduce the risk of exposure, and hide malware by changing the overall signature and fingerprint of malicious code – even though the payload is a known threat.If the complexity of a code is such that it is beyond human ability to understand, the human can be forced to abandon the code and look for another one. For example, a code might use “and”or” in ambiguous terms. An algorithm might rely on using complex mathematical formulas in its operation.
If the code is too simple, then the human can easily work out what it does without studying the code. For example, a piece of code might contain a series of instructions, with each instruction carrying out a particular task. These instructions can be translated into simple English words. It is important to be able to decode the instructions and understand what they mean, otherwise the code will not be read and understood.
Should I obfuscate my code?
If you’re writing web services or any other code that runs on your secured servers, there is no need to obfuscate them. When you deploy client-side code, you may want to obfuscate it to make it harder for someone to reverse engineer your code so they can’t steal or credit it.The other type of code fusibility is when a code makes the reader want to quit reading and move on to something else. This is called “omnipotence.” The concept of omniscience comes from the Greek word ones, which means knowing or being knowledgeable. A code can be written so that the human cannot decipher what it is saying.
Obfusibility comes in the form of various tools, methods, or software used for concealing the true meaning of a code. One of the most common examples is the use of comments within the code. Comments are lines of code where the meaning of the code is hidden. Some programmers use comment lines as a way to explain something the programmer is trying to convey, or as a form of proofreading. However, some programmers use comments for their intended purpose, to conceal a method or technique.
What obfuscation mean?
Obscuration is the obfuscation of the intended meaning of communication by making the message difficult to understand, usually using confusing and ambiguous language. … Etymologically, the word concealment is derived from the Latin obfuscationem, from obfuscāre (to darken); Synonyms are the words gloom and abstruse.
One technique used for code fusibility is inserting a hidden comment line, usually in the middle of a code, which explains something in a hidden manner. Another technique uses the inclusion of a comment that explains an important aspect of a code without using it at all. Another tactic is to insert a comment line that gives the reader a vague idea of what the code is meant to mean and then adds in a more elaborate comment line to elaborate on that idea.
What is code obfuscation in Android?
Obfuscation helps protecting your application against reverse engineering by others. You can use the Android ProGuard tool to obfuscate, shrink, and optimize your code. ProGuard renames classes, fields, and methods with semantically obscure names and removes unused code.
Another technique that hides the true meaning of a code is to use a comment line with an obvious reference or implication that cannot be deduced by the human reader. One example is the inclusion of a reference line that gives the reader an idea of what the code is supposed to do but doesn’t mention what that action does or even says. Another way of hiding the meaning is to place an empty comment after the instruction. In the above example, the empty comment can be interpreted by the human as meaning to do nothing.
How do I create an unreadable code?
In general, code obfuscators make your code illegible by replacing meaningful variable names with things like $ a, $ b, etc., and removing comments, spaces, and other conveniences that we normally use to make code readable.Sometimes a code can be disguised using these techniques in a way that does not affect the code’s intended meaning. For example, a code could contain a comment that reads, “The expression x * y = z,” meaning that the code takes the input and multiplies it by x and y. The human reader won’t see this as a meaning the first time he reads the code. After he has repeated the statement a number of times, the human will look at the last result of the calculation and infer that x * y = z is the same as x * z. This type of code obfusibility technique is useful because it can allow programmers to hide code that they don’t want the human to see.
