New tool 'makes code tamper-proof'

A new tool can prevent piracy of both software and digital content by making code practically tamper-proof, the developers claim.

Metafortress, from Glasgow-based Metaforic, injects a web of interdependent checksums into code, making it virtually impossible to alter undetected and very difficult to reverse-engineer, says chief technology officer Neil Stewart.

And it protects content such as music tracks or video by protecting the media-player software, which is the usual point of attack for someone trying to crack a digital rights management (DRM) system.

It will foil a code cracker who tries to disable the DRM system in a way that will not produce a tell-tale checksum error. It also facilitates the obfuscation of code to thwart anyone who tries to disassemble it as a route to breaking the anti-piracy 'wrapper' around copyright content.

Metafortress is used at the stage at which source code is compiled for the final product, so it can be used on products targeted at any platform. Currently it supports all flavours of C++ source code, and Java and C# versions will be available soon.

Metaforic chief executive Andrew McLennan said the company had employed 'white hat' hackers to try to break the system and they had failed, even after being told how it works.

He said Metafortress made the approaches used by hackers so difficult to negotiate that "it would be easier to write the application from scratch".