.NET Native; what's it mean for obfuscation and Dotfuscator in particular

October 28, 2015 10685 Views Sebastian Holst

I recently got a question from a client asking why .NET Native (the process of transforming a .NET assembly into a native app to improve performance) did not also make products like Dotfuscator irrelevant. Here's my response (with personal details removed of course).

First, the .NET Native process is only applicable to Universal Apps distributed through a Microsoft marketplace. If you are developing .NET (using VS2015 or anything else) BUT are targeting anything other than a Universal App architecture - .NET Native does not apply – also, if you’re developing in F# - even if Universal - .NET Native does not apply.

Here’s an excellent blog post from MSFT on this: .NET Native – What it means for Universal Windows Platform (UWP) developers.

While this probably eliminates most dev organizations in the near term, lets assume that a dev organization is fits into this narrow scenario. Let’s focus on comparing obfuscation to native-generation when both are available.

First, there is no doubt that many app dev teams that might have needed an obfuscator to prevent reverse engineering of their apps back into C# will no longer have that requirement.

However, .NET Native is a performance optimizer – NOT an app security tool – and so (while there is most certainly overlap) the two are not synonymous. For example,

One would not expect to see string encryption happen inside the .NET Native generation process (and sometimes that is all a bad actor is trying to look at)
None of this addresses “detective controls” (triggering defensive behaviors when an app is tampered with for example) Note – while not technically an “obfuscation transform” this is a feature included with Dotfuscator for non-universal apps.
When components run on a device as a universal app AND share function calls/name spaces, etc with non-universal components – cross-assembly renaming/obfuscation is still required for the non-universal components and then must be extended into the universal app when they need to interoperate. This can also apply when libraries are distributed across multiple dev organizations – that may not even be part of the same org and so the “protection” is on the library against library dev users.

Our view is that dev orgs should first assess what risks matter to them (not a technical metric) and then take appropriate steps to mitigate ONLY those risks – and for many (but not all) who develop exclusively standalone universal apps distributed through a MSFT marketplace (the VS2015 .NET Native generator in VS2015 is only for your testing – it’s the MSFT marketplace that ACTUALLY does this transform in production) – the .NET Native process will have the added benefit of eliminating the need for a commercial obfuscator. …BUT, there are many scenarios that will not fit neatly into this construct.

PS as a “fun fact” – PreEmptive’s first obfuscation product was for Java (it pre-dates the existence of .NET) and is (still) called DashO (“-o” is the “optimize” command for Java). So yes, the first obfuscator began its life as an optimization tool in the 1990’s – firmly establishing the the connection between optimization and obfuscation – but that does not make them synonymous.

Another “fun fact”, a large part of why MSFT asked us to build the .NET obfuscator in 2002 was because (prior to .NET) MSFT was a Java obfuscation client of ours.

Latest Blog Posts

Dotfuscator 6: The Next Era of Dotfuscator

In the months since we released the Dotfuscator 6 beta, we’ve been hard at work finishing the feature set, fixing issues, and putting on the final touches in preparation for the full release. Now, we are happy to announce the full availability of Dotfuscator 6!

It’s official. COVID-19, more commonly known as the Coronavirus, has been declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) with hundreds of thousands of cases worldwide. In the United States, restrictions are ramping up as case numbers soar — New York governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered all nonessential workers to stay home, and my own state’s governor Mike DeWine has issued a statewide shelter-in-place order.

Along with disruptions to daily life, the expanding impact of COVID-19 has forced businesses to rapidly pivot and adopt remote-work models — even if they have no experience with mobile connections and on-demand collaboration. The result is a surge in remote everything, from team chats to primary school education to project management and even healthcare delivery. See my previous blog on our customer commitment during the age of Coronavirus.

And while efforts to bridge the digital divide are having a positive impact for both workplace productivity and the mental health of those in isolation, there’s a potential pitfall: Cybersecurity. As noted by CNBC, there’s already been a significant uptick in scam and phishing emails — but what happens if malicious actors breach critical apps and services?

At PreEmptive, we’re closely following the evolving Coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency, and our thoughts are with those affected and their families during this difficult time.

We are taking precautionary steps to continue normal operations without affecting our customers. At the same time, ensuring the health and safety of our customers, partners, and employees is our highest priority.

We have provided application protection software to the world's top organizations for more than 20 years. Although, this case is somewhat unique, it is not the first time we have been confronted with economic disruptions and uncertainties. Prior critical lessons have helped shape us into the company we are today: a robust organization with layers of contingency plans in place, a strong balance sheet, and an experienced team that values long-term relationships with our customers and partners above all else.

Evolving Hazards, Emerging Hope and the Expanding Human Element

The theme at the RSA conference this year is the “Human Element” — the critical role of individuals in the efficacy of organizational security measures. Along with sessions about the hazards of IT complexity and the hope of ethical AI, the expanding impact of COVID-19 concerns offered a real-world example of human elements at work, highlighting how IT staff can both help — and hamper — the effectiveness of infosec efforts.

Here’s a look back on some of my biggest takeaways from RSA 2020.

Unlike Y2K, 2020 was not preceded by waves of doomsday predictions, hype and frenetic IT overhauls. Developers are still under pressure to produce more, in less time, and at a lower cost, enterprises are as committed to their love/hate relationship with software as ever, and app users still expect perfection.

…but don’t let the usual crush of work and expectations lull you into a sense that it’s just the same old sprint to the next development project. Recent enforcement precedents, regulatory milestones and standards updates strongly suggest that 2020 app development and app security requirements will be anything but “business as usual.”

.NET Native; what's it mean for obfuscation and Dotfuscator in particular

Dotfuscator 6: The Next Era of Dotfuscator

Going the Distance — Remote Work and Effective Cybersecurity in the Age of Coronavirus

Our Commitment to Customers During the COVID-19 Outbreak

RSA 2020 San Francisco Recap

Evolving Hazards, Emerging Hope and the Expanding Human Element

App Security: It’s a New Year! What’s New About It?

Latest Blog Posts

Dotfuscator 6: The Next Era of Dotfuscator

Going the Distance — Remote Work and Effective Cybersecurity in the Age of Coronavirus

Our Commitment to Customers During the COVID-19 Outbreak

RSA 2020 San Francisco Recap

App Security: It’s a New Year! What’s New About It?

Twitter