Capturing the essence of practical obfuscation

Abstract

In the realm of protecting programs from illegitimate use, obfuscation offers a modicum of defense against malicious reverse engineering and tampering. As a field of study, obfuscation would benefit from a unifying framework that has solid theoretical foundation yet provides value in empirical study and implementation. The essence of obfuscation (in practice) is best described as a measurable loss of abstraction. We argue that mathematical frameworks such as abstract interpretation and Boolean algebras may provide an ideal marriage of theory and practice, providing focused direction for future research. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.