PreEmptive Solutions' Dotfuscator will integrate with Microsoft Visual Studio "Whidbey"

Dotfuscator brings code level security to the software development lifecycle by allowing developers to protect code against reverse engineering.

Cleveland, Ohio - October 28, 2003

PreEmptive Solutions, the leader in obfuscation, size reduction and optimization development tools, today announced the integration of PreEmptive's Dotfuscator Community Edition into Microsoft Visual Studio "Whidbey." By providing obfuscation tools, PreEmptive provides developers writing code to run on the .NET Framework with an extra layer of protection against reverse engineering or decompilation. This integration allows organizations to make code level security part of their overall software development lifecycle.

The Dotfuscator Community Edition provides features, such as PreEmptive's patented Overload-InductionTM renaming technology, that make it virtually impossible to reconstruct the source code from a compiled application because the original overloading relationships are destroyed.

"Protecting access to source code and creating compact and efficient applications are two of the most important issues in developing applications," says Gabriel Torok, president of PreEmptive Solutions. "Integrating our solution into Visual Studio 'Whidbey' provides the security developers and corporations demand."

"Before undertaking a migration to Microsoft .NET, corporate enterprises must be sure that their enterprise applications are inherently secure. PreEmptive's new Dotfuscator software--which is integrated into Visual Studio. NET-- addresses that concern," says Laura DiDio, an analyst with the Yankee Group in Boston. "Typically, the word 'obfuscation' meaning confusion, carries a negative connotation. But, just the opposite is true of the Dotfuscator package. The Dotfuscator software is a positive step on the road to secure application development: it's meant to confuse and confound would be hackers, making it extremely difficult to tamper with the integrity of .NET-based applications. Developing applications with Visual Studio .NET just got safer with the integration of PreEmptive's Dotfuscator."

"PreEmptive's Dotfuscator brings code-level security to the development life cycle in Visual Studio 'Whidbey,'" said David Lazar, director of the Developer and Platform Evangelism Division at Microsoft Corp. "Microsoft is pleased PreEmptive is taking additional steps to ensure a secure enterprise."

Developers can easily upgrade to Dotfuscator Professional Edition for an added level of protection and size reduction with advanced features such as Control Flow Obfuscation, Pruning, String Encryption, Enhanced Overload Induction, Incremental Obfuscation, Automated Stack Trace Translations, PDB Debugging Support, XML/HTML Report Files, Rich Visual Studio Integration and Integration with Build Scripts.

Designed to stop even the best of decompilers and to create the most compact and efficient .NET Framework-based applications, Dotfuscator Professional offers the following features: 

• Control Flow Obfuscation provides a strong form of protection that creates very confusing code (to the human or decompiler) while still maintaining complete execution consistency and code verification. 

• Pruning works by extracting unused portions of program code (from the developer's own code, or third-party libraries one uses) to deliver the trimmest executable possible. In addition to improving performance, size reduction of code is crucial in distributed and .NET Compact Framework applications. 

• String Encryption helps to hide facts about a program that are discoverable by searching for internal strings. If a hacker wants to get into your code, one does not blindly start searching renamed types. One probably does a search on "Invalid License Key" which points him right to the type where license handling is performed. String Encryption raises the bar for uncovering developer secrets. 

• Enhanced Overload Induction allows the return type of a method to be used as criteria in determining its inimitability and therefore it can allow up to 15 percent more redundancy in method renames. In addition, since overloading on return type is typically not allowed in source languages such as Visual C# .NET and Visual Basic .NET, this feature further hinders decompilers. 

• Incremental Obfuscation works by using input from a previous run to mimic its previous renaming scheme. That way, you can issue just the patched modules to your customers. 

• Size Reduction and pruning feature reduces the size of executables by removing unused code and use less memory. 

• Automated Stack Trace Translation Tools to quickly convert obfuscated stack traces back to unobfuscated ones.

• PDB Debugging Support creates PDB debugging files based on obfuscated code. 

• XML/HTML Report Files shows valuable pruning and renaming information. 

• Rich Visual Studio Integration allows developers to transparently use Dotfuscator Professional inside Visual Studio .NET 2003. 

• Integration with Build Scripts allows you to seamlessly include protection in your nightly builds.

Dotfuscator Professional Edition includes advanced features that provide strong code protection and makes your .NET-based applications as small and efficient as they can be. More information can be found at http://www.preemptive.com.

About PreEmptive Solutions:
Founded in 1995, PreEmptive Solutions is the leading provider of advanced Java and .Net code security tools giving unprecedented protection, optimization and size reduction. PreEmptive's Dotfuscator and DashOTM Family of Products help secure and improve the efficiency .NETTM and JavaTM code. For further information, visit www.preemptive.com or call 216-732-5895.

Press Contact:
Sebastian Holst
SVP, Sales and Marketing
PreEmptive Solutions
Direct +1 440 484 2243
solutions@preemptive.com