Co-Processor Secure Software Platform Link Security

The art and science of software reverse engineering have matured to the point that their methods, tools, and philosophies are well defined and commonly known. Robust fault injection, debugger, disassembly, and de-compilation tools are available to assist efforts to reveal the details of software intellectual property and steal once-secret code and data. As unacceptable as this is the commercial sector, the importance of defeating such practices becomes magnified when protecting trusted DoD systems and information responsible for maintaining technological superiority on the battlefield. Luna Innovations Incorporated proposes to protect the communications link between Luna’s Secure Software Platform (SSP) and a COTS processor. Through the use of innovative anti-tamper techniques, we will provide protection from, detection of, and response to attacks between Luna’s hardware-based software protection platform and the protected application on a microprocessor. By leveraging the advantages of a hardware-assisted approach – better performance, better security, and reduced overall complexity – Luna expects to create a solution that significantly increases the required cost and time for a software reverse engineering effort.