Steganography for Tamper-Resistant Software (STARS)

The DoD has valuable and sensitive software which it must protect from use, exploitation, or attack by other countries or organizations. Anti-tamper technologies protect these assets by increasing the costs associated with extracting this information by enemy forces. A variety of techniques have been and are being developed to address specific aspects of anti-tamper protection. These techniques frequently include methods for obfuscating the algorithms and data of the program, and typically include data encryption functions. Encryption techniques require that both decryption keys and the corresponding decryption algorithms are present in the end-system being protected. These decryption components on the end-system are prime targets for reverse-engineering, de-activation, and other forms of tampering. To protect these encryption/decryption components it is desirable to obscure or hide them within the end-system. Architecture Technology Corporation will leverage its extensive experience in software Anti-Tamper technologies to design and build a novel anti-tamper data-hiding approach: Steganography for Tamper-Resistant Software (STARS). STARS will enable hiding of arbitrary data within the executable code of the end-system itself. Hidden data could include both decryption keys and algorithms. To enhance both information hiding and the tamper-resistance of the protected software, STARS will combine steganographic techniques with other anti-tamper obfuscation techniques.