A technique for self-certifying tamper resistant software

ABSTRACT

Until recently the use of software tamper resistance was rather limited. However, as the music and movie industries have increased their reliance on content protection systems, the importance placed on and the use of tamper resistance has also increased. Unfortunately, the nature of tamper resistance can make it difficult for developers to determine if a protection mechanism isactually robust and which attacks it can protect against. To address this issue we have designed a tool for self-certifying the strength of a tamper resistance implementation that is based on a hybrid attack-defense graph. This approachto tamper resistance evaluation is advantageous in that it enables certification without leaking confidential implementation details and it assists developers in designing more robust implementations.

REFERENCES

• 1: Advanced Access Content System, http://www.aacsla.com/home
• 2: Kyle Ingols , Richard Lippmann , Keith Piwowarski, Practical Attack Graph Generation for Network Defense, Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Computer Security Applications Conference on Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, p.121-130, December 11-15, 2006 [doi>10.1109/ACSAC.2006.39]
• 3: G. Myles and H.Jin, "Self-validating Branch-Based Software Watermarking", Springer, 7th International Information Hiding Workshop, pp.342--356, 2005.
• 4: B. Schneier, "Attack trees", Dr. Dobb's Journal, July, 2001

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.5 Security and Protection (D.4.6, K.4.2)
          Subjects: Unauthorized access (e.g., hacking, phreaking)

General Terms:
Design, Management, Measurement, Security

Keywords:
attack tree, content protection, security measurement, software tamper resistance