A Survey of Anti-Tamper Technologies

Abstract

This article surveys the various anti-tamper (AT) technologies used to protect software. The primary objective of AT tech- niques is to protect critical program information by preventing unauthorized modification and use of software. This protec- tion goal applies to any program that requires protection from unauthorized disclosure or inadvertent transfer of leading- edge technologies and sensitive data or systems. In this article, we review the various approaches to AT techniques, their strengths and weaknesses, their advantages and disadvantages, and briefly discuss a process for developing program protec- tion plans. We also survey the tools that are typically used to circumvent AT protections, and techniques that are commonly used to make these protections more resilient against such attack.