Security through obscurity

General Topics
1

Hi malware fighters,

Security through obscurity is almost always a bad idea. So is the following encoding tool. Read here why: http://itsit.nl/klaphek/scrdec.html

polonus

2

Well, although the statement is usually right, I’m not sure if this is the right example.
I mean, what significantly better method for script scrambling would you suggest?

3

Hi igor,

As you say, Script Scrambler 2.0, from here: http://www.cgiconnection.com/cgi-bin/cgi-con/system.cgi?area=scripts&docs=4300

polonus

4

Appart from the fact that this tool is for perl (and not JavaScript or VBScript), I don’t think there’s much difference here (I’ve actually wrote a similar (OK, maybe better :)) tool for JavaScript long time ago).
Yes, it changes the names of the variables, and possibly removes the comments, so it removes some information for the source - but it’s quite easy to convert the file back to a readable form (by writing an “inverse” tool).

The basic source has to be there (so that the browser can interpret it) - so no method can really secure it.