Home > Ask the Software Quality Experts > Application Security Questions & Answers > Obfuscation tools and application security
Ask The Software Quality Expert: Questions & Answers
EMAIL THIS

Obfuscation tools and application security

Brad Arkin EXPERT RESPONSE FROM: Brad Arkin

Pose a Question
Other Software Quality Categories
Meet all Software Quality Experts
Become an Expert for this site


Software quality news and advice
Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us    Add to Google


>
QUESTION POSED ON: 17 October 2006
I read your advice about fuzzing. What makes it different from obfuscators and other tools? Are obfuscators more effective than scanners?


Digg This!    StumbleUpon Toolbar StumbleUpon    Bookmark with Delicious Del.icio.us    Add to Google



RELATED CONTENT
Application Security
Beating software's cross-site scripting, authentication problems
Expert resolves issues plaguing OpenSTA users
What is fuzz testing? What are some ways to use fuzz testing?
How do I convince management to take application security seriously?
How do I set up a secure login page using membership in ASP.NET?
Security testing sales, marketing websites
Are there application security certification standards?
Top tools for testing Web application security
How to prevent HTTP response splitting
PCI DSS compliance: WAF, code review or both?

Software security testing tools
Beating software's cross-site scripting, authentication problems
Free tools for Agile testers
Put a stop to software espionage by watermarking source code
How to make your software tamperproof
How can I tell if my software security has been breached?
Lesser-known free software testing tools testers should try
Demo: Using WebGoat, a free software testing tool
Rich Internet applications security testing checklist
Finding cross-site scripting (XSS) application flaws checklist
Webgoat Tutorial

Web application security tools and services
Static analysis tool helps software engineers find bugs during builds
Automated security tool finds flaws in enterprise apps
Parasoft enhances its Application Security Solution
Cenzic Web application security tool targets CSRF attacks
Ruby on Rails security audit service available
Secure software measures: Their strengths and limitations
HP software security suite treats vulnerabilities as defects
Dynamic analysis tool from Coverity looks at concurrency defects
Veracode provides security audits for externally sourced code
Enhanced application protection in Dotfuscator Professional 4.3

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS
Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary
penetration testing  (SearchSoftwareQuality.com)

RELATED RESOURCES
2020software.com, trial software downloads for accounting software, ERP software, CRM software and business software systems
Search Bitpipe.com for the latest white papers and business webcasts
Whatis.com, the online computer dictionary


A fuzzing tool or fuzzer is a software test tool used to probe for security vulnerabilities. An obfuscation tool is used to make source code more difficult to understand or complied binary code more difficult to decompile. Fuzzers and code obfuscators address very different elements of security and one tool should not be used in place of the other.

Code obfuscation can be helpful in situations where an application is likely to be reverse engineered. For example, attackers frequently use obfuscation techniques to make computer viruses and backdoor Trojan programs more difficult for security companies to understand and build defenses against. Obfuscation is also used to make Java applets and other applications that are downloaded to a potentially untrustworthy client more difficult to manipulate.

A fun example of manually obfuscated code is the International Obfuscated C Code Contest. (See www.ioccc.org for more.)

More information:




Search and Browse the Expert Answer Center
Search and browse more than 25,000 question and answer pairs from more than 250 TechTarget industry experts.
Browse our Expert Advice



Software Quality - Software Maintenance, Software Requirements, Software Standards
About Us  |  Contact Us  |  For Advertisers  |  For Business Partners  |  Site Index  |  RSS
SEARCH 
TechTarget provides technology professionals with the information they need to perform their jobs - from developing strategy, to making cost-effective purchase decisions and managing their organizations' technology projects - with its network of technology-specific websites, events and online magazines.

TechTarget Corporate Web Site  |  Media Kits  |  Site Map




All Rights Reserved, Copyright 2006 - 2009, TechTarget | Read our Privacy Policy
  TechTarget - The IT Media ROI Experts