[prog] 'protecting' perl code

[Almut Behrens]

On Tue, May 11, 2004 at 10:59:45AM +1000, Jacinta Richardson wrote:
> 
> I wonder how easy it would be to modify the modified perl interpreter to
> drop the parse tree after interpretation but before/instead of compiling.
> Once you've got the parse tree you've got the algorithms.

Your suspicion is absolutely correct. Of course, anyone writing such a
tool will make every possible attempt to defeat usage of modules like
Deparse and friends. However, you probably know best that Perl is an
extremely powerful and flexible language...  In other words, if I were
the cracker, I would go that route first, before firing up gdb.
You probably understand, though, that I won't give out any further tips
on a publically searchable mailinglist on how to crack a tool that's
still in use. Neither would I do myself a favor, nor would that be fair
to my client, even if I wasn't bound to non-disclosure, legally.
It's all about obfuscation -- so, let's keep that cloud intact :)


> Of course such an attack would involve way more work than most people
> would bother with. :)

Exactly. ;)

Almut