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UCLA computer grad constructs “crown jewel of cryptography”

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Re: UCLA computer grad constructs “crown jewel of cryptography”

#2
That is a fascinating result. A remarkable mathematical achievement. And a nightmare.

This thesis says that it's possible to obfuscate code in such a way that there is a lower bound on the level of effort needed to de-obfuscate it. That lower bound can apparently be comparable to the level of effort required to break a cryptosystem.

So, coming soon, viruses and worms nobody can figure out. Code where no one can tell if it has a backdoor. ML classifiers where no one can be sure what they really do.

Re: UCLA computer grad constructs “crown jewel of cryptography”

#3
post #2

That is a fascinating result. A remarkable mathematical achievement. And a nightmare. This thesis says that it's possible to obfuscate code in such a way that there is a lower bound on the level of effort needed to de-obfuscate it. That lower bound can apparently be comparable to the level of effort required to break a cryptosystem. So, coming soon, viruses and worms nobody can figure out. Code where no one can tell…

Is it just an existence proof or is it actually constructive? (I haven't read the dissertation.)

Re: UCLA computer grad constructs “crown jewel of cryptography”

#4
post #2

That is a fascinating result. A remarkable mathematical achievement. And a nightmare. This thesis says that it's possible to obfuscate code in such a way that there is a lower bound on the level of effort needed to de-obfuscate it. That lower bound can apparently be comparable to the level of effort required to break a cryptosystem. So, coming soon, viruses and worms nobody can figure out. Code where no one can tell…

I’m sure DRM companies like Denuvo are having a field day.

Re: UCLA computer grad constructs “crown jewel of cryptography”

#5
post #2

That is a fascinating result. A remarkable mathematical achievement. And a nightmare. This thesis says that it's possible to obfuscate code in such a way that there is a lower bound on the level of effort needed to de-obfuscate it. That lower bound can apparently be comparable to the level of effort required to break a cryptosystem. So, coming soon, viruses and worms nobody can figure out. Code where no one can tell…

Isn't that where we're already at with ML classifiers?

Re: UCLA computer grad constructs “crown jewel of cryptography”

#6
post #2

That is a fascinating result. A remarkable mathematical achievement. And a nightmare. This thesis says that it's possible to obfuscate code in such a way that there is a lower bound on the level of effort needed to de-obfuscate it. That lower bound can apparently be comparable to the level of effort required to break a cryptosystem. So, coming soon, viruses and worms nobody can figure out. Code where no one can tell…

Even if the vendor is willing to provide source, you can't be sure that the binary matches. Nice.

I think Saberhagen's Berserkers actually had this feature.

Re: UCLA computer grad constructs “crown jewel of cryptography”

#7
If I’m reading Wikipedia [1] correctly, a program that does an AND of 32 booleans when obfuscated is 32 GiB. No indication of runtime overhead but something tells me it’s a large constant overhead (if I skimmed the paper correctly, the complexity class must be the same).

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indistinguishability_obfuscati...

Re: UCLA computer grad constructs “crown jewel of cryptography”

#8
post #3
post #2

That is a fascinating result. A remarkable mathematical achievement. And a nightmare. This thesis says that it's possible to obfuscate code in such a way that there is a lower bound on the level of effort needed to de-obfuscate it. That lower bound can apparently be comparable to the level of effort required to break a cryptosystem. So, coming soon, viruses and worms nobody can figure out. Code where no one can tell…

Is it just an existence proof or is it actually constructive? (I haven't read the dissertation.)

Looks like constructive but my math knowledge is probably equivalent to a freshman’s at best.

Re: UCLA computer grad constructs “crown jewel of cryptography”

#9
post #3
post #2

That is a fascinating result. A remarkable mathematical achievement. And a nightmare. This thesis says that it's possible to obfuscate code in such a way that there is a lower bound on the level of effort needed to de-obfuscate it. That lower bound can apparently be comparable to the level of effort required to break a cryptosystem. So, coming soon, viruses and worms nobody can figure out. Code where no one can tell…

Is it just an existence proof or is it actually constructive? (I haven't read the dissertation.)

It is not efficient enough that you need to worry about exciting developments using this scheme. But it’s a step towards more reasonable mathematical assumptions than previous constructions, assumptions that may actually be true. Give it a few more years and we might be able to use this stuff.
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