Dotfuscator: Code Obfuscation
Techniques & Features

Code obfuscation is one of the most robust security techniques developers can use to protect their applications against hackers. The world’s top cybersecurity experts recommend it as a baseline security measure because it’s an ideal defense mechanism against hacking attempts.

As a line of defense for your applications, obfuscating your code can prevent the most common types of attacks, including:

A common hacking technique is to locate critical code sections by looking for string references inside the binary code, known as user strings. For example, if your application is time-locked, it may display a message when the user has used the app for a set amount of time.

As a form of mobile app code obfuscation, Dotfuscator’s watermarking tool helps you more easily track unauthorized copies of your software back to the source. It does this by embedding data such as copyright information or unique identification numbers into your .NET application without impacting its runtime behavior.

It also doesn’t increase the size of the app’s files or introduce metadata that could break your application and cause performance issues.

Just like a speedboat can sail and maneuver faster than a cruise ship, small applications can download, install, load, and run faster than their larger counterparts. Dotfuscator includes pruning features that use static code analysis to find unused types, methods, and fields in your code and remove them.

Dotfuscator also removes debug information and non-essential metadata from your files as it processes them, shrinking both the application’s file size and the amount of data it has available for hackers to exploit.

Dotfuscator combines multiple input assemblies into one output assembly. Linking assemblies can shrink your app’s attack surface area even further, especially when you combine it with other obfuscation methods like renaming and pruning.

The only rule for linking input assemblies is that you can’t link the same input assembly into multiple output assemblies.

Dotfuscator injects code that verifies your application’s runtime integrity. If it detects tampering, it can shut down the application, invoke random crashes to disguise its tamper checks, or perform other custom actions to disrupt hacking attempts while they’re happening.

For more information on Dotfuscator’s tamper defense capabilities, see our Tamper Defense Fact Sheet.

Checks are prebuilt validations Dotfuscator can inject into your .NET apps. They enable your apps to detect instances of unauthorized use like tampering or debugging attempts.

Dotfuscator’s Checks can also react to these unauthorized use attempts with preset actions and behaviors based on the results they find, such as forcing the user to exit the app and sending you a report about the results. You can configure these reporting and response features for each check, so your apps can respond to detections differently as needed.

Shelf Life is an app inventory management feature that allows you to embed expiration and notification logic into your code. Dotfuscator will then react to your application’s expiration logic by forcing the user to exit or sending a message saying their session had timed out.

This feature is a great choice for beta or evaluation applications. It allows developers to schedule an application’s expiration or deactivation for a specified date and issue warnings to users that the application will expire in a set number of days.

Rooted devices can be a major security concern for apps on Android. However, Dotfuscator can detect when your app is running on a rooted device, either offline or on a network. This allows your developers to abort the session, quarantine the app, or report the incident to prevent a data breach.

Request a quote to learn how Dotfuscator can make your app more secure, or start a free trial today.