V.i. Labs Announces New Software Protection Solution for Microsoft .NET Applications.Application providers and enterprise users now have industry first approach to better protecting .NET applications from threats of piracy, tampering tampering The adulteration of a thing. See Drug tampering. , and code theft WALTHAM, Mass. -- V.i. Laboratories, Inc. ("V.i. Labs"), a provider of software protection solutions for securing high-value and mission-critical applications, today announced the availability of CodeArmor[TM] for .NET Framework, a new version of its flagship offering that protects Microsoft .NET See .NET. Framework applications from the threats of reverse engineering. Available immediately, CodeArmor for .NET Framework is one of the first software protection approaches to combine encryption and active run-time security monitoring to help protect intellectual property resident within .NET Framework applications from the increasing threats of piracy, tampering and code theft. Application providers and enterprise users are migrating and developing new applications using the Microsoft .NET Framework because the platform allows developers to use multiple languages, integrate Web services (1) Loosely, any online service delivered over the Web. Such usage appears in articles from non-technical sources, but not in IT-oriented publications, because definition #2 below describes the correct use of the term. , and simplify development across multiple platforms Refers to two or more operating environments, which typically include the CPU family and operating system. For example, if versions of a program run on Windows and the Macintosh, the software is said to support multiple platforms. . However, without proper coding and security practices, once .NET Framework applications are deployed, hackers, competitors, and piracy cracking teams can gain access to the source code and the embedded IP within the application. Unlike natively compiled Windows applications which are compiled into low-level machine code, applications utilizing the .NET Framework are only partially compiled and contain highly detailed metadata, making it possible to reverse engineer and/or be decompiled into higher level source code. This increases the risks of malicious tampering and competitive IP theft and software piracy The illegal copying of software for distribution within the organization, or to friends, clubs and other groups, or for duplication and resale. The software industry loses billions of dollars each year to piracy, and although it may seem innocent enough to install an application on a , especially for software vendors marketing applications into emerging markets. "We're pleased to see an industry partner supporting the .NET Framework and advancing the framework's security," said Thom Robbins, director of .NET Platform Product Management at Microsoft Corp. "With CodeArmor, the .NET Framework provides developers with increased protection while they are developing applications." "Organizations who develop software applications consider their source code proprietary and a confidential asset," said Vic DeMarines, vice president of Products for V.i. Labs. "With the Microsoft .NET Framework, the product high-level code can be accessible by using publicly-available tools to decompile deployed applications. Because CodeArmor provides comprehensive protection for and fully supports the features of the Microsoft .NET Framework, application developers can now focus on developing applications completely in managed .NET code." Current security measures Noun 1. security measures - measures taken as a precaution against theft or espionage or sabotage etc.; "military security has been stepped up since the recent uprising" security offer passive protection approaches such as obfuscation ob·fus·cate tr.v. ob·fus·cat·ed, ob·fus·cat·ing, ob·fus·cates 1. To make so confused or opaque as to be difficult to perceive or understand: "A great effort was made . . . , simple encryption wrappers In data mining and treatment learning, wrappers were used by Ron Kohavi and George John. Their idea was to wrap their treatments learners in a preprocessor that would search to make subsets from the current set of attributes. , or hybrid .NET Framework configurations where sensitive algorithms remain in unmanaged code An executable program that runs by itself. Launched from the operating system, the program calls upon and uses the software routines in the operating system, but does not require another software system to be used. . These approaches impact the software development lifecycle, increase the complexity of deploying and supporting .NET Framework applications, or provide little defense against a skilled reverse engineering attack. CodeArmor is the first off-the-shelf solution to combine active and comprehensive run-time security with a simple protection process that applies security to the post-compiled applications requiring no source code or design changes. Once protected, CodeArmor's active run-time security is embedded within the software application and activates itself once the application is launched. CodeArmor for .NET Framework authenticates and verifies the integrity of the environment prior decrypting .NET Framework assemblies and sensitive functions. This protection process is transparent from the end user and persistent wherever the protected application is deployed. In addition, unlike other .NET Framework security approaches, CodeArmor can protect mix-mode applications which contain managed and unmanaged code. Other key capabilities contained in CodeArmor for .NET Framework include: * Ensures safe execution by continually verifying and authenticating the Microsoft .NET Framework prior to allowing the protected application to run * Compatibility with Microsoft .NET 1.1, 2.0 and 3.0 Frameworks and compatibility with key .NET capabilities (i.e., Reflection, Global Assembly Cache The Global Assembly Cache or GAC is a machine-wide .NET assemblies cache for Microsoft's CLR platform. The approach of having a specially controlled central repository, addresses the shared library concept while helping to avoid pitfalls of other solutions that lead to , Serialization se·ri·al·ize tr.v. se·ri·al·ized, se·ri·al·iz·ing, se·ri·al·iz·es To write or publish in serial form. se , Strong Name Support) * Support for Windows Vista The current version of Windows for the desktop. It was released in late 2006 for businesses and early 2007 for consumers. Vista adds numerous features, including improved security and advanced multimedia capabilities. 32-bit * Support for stand-alone DLL (1) See data link layer. (2) (Dynamic Link Library) An executable program module in Windows that performs one or more functions at runtime. DLLs are not launched by the user; they are called for by an executable program or by other DLLs. protection and Active X controls * New CodeArmor administrator capability to filter and search for sensitive functions based on key terms "This release will allow us to extend deployment of CodeArmor to our other products that are being developed using Microsoft .NET Framework," said a director of engineering for an embedded system Any electronic system that uses a CPU chip, but that is not a general-purpose workstation, desktop or laptop computer. Such systems generally use microprocessors, or they may use custom-designed chips or both. application provider which wishes to remain anonymous for security reasons. "We originally deployed CodeArmor to protect our traditional Windows applications from the threat of reverse engineering from competitors. This risk only increases with our use of the Microsoft .NET Framework." Availability and Pricing CodeArmor for Microsoft .NET Framework is available immediately. Pricing starts at $18,500 for enterprise applications and subscription based pricing for Application providers and Independent Software Vendors. About V.i. Laboratories (V.i. Labs) V.i. Labs provides software protection solutions that protect against the misappropriation misappropriation n. the intentional, illegal use of the property or funds of another person for one's own use or other unauthorized purpose, particularly by a public official, a trustee of a trust, an executor or administrator of a dead person's estate, or by any and theft of intellectual property resident in software applications. Through V.i. Labs' patent-pending technology, software vendors, embedded system providers, enterprise organizations and government agencies are able to easily secure their software against the threat of piracy, tampering and theft, independent of where the applications are distributed. V.i. Labs is privately held and is headquartered in Waltham, MA. [c]2007 V.i. Laboratories, Inc. All rights reserved. V.i. Labs, CodeArmor and the V.i. Labs logo, are trademarks of V.i. Laboratories, Inc. All other product and brand names herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. |
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