Probabilistic Obfuscation Through Covert Channels

Jon Stephens, Babak Yadegari, Christian Collberg, Saumya Debray, Carlos Scheidegger

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

9 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper presents a program obfuscation framework that uses covert channels through the program's execution environment to obfuscate information flow through the program. Unlike prior works on obfuscation, the use of covert channels removes visible information flows from the computation of the program and reroutes them through the program's runtime system and/or the operating system. This renders these information flows, and the corresponding control and data dependencies, invisible to program analysis tools such as symbolic execution engines. Additionally, we present the idea of probabilistic obfuscation which uses imperfect covert channels to leak information with some probabilistic guarantees. Experimental evaluation of our approach against state of the art detection and analysis techniques show the engines are not well-equipped to handle these obfuscations, particularly those of the probabilistic variety.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationProceedings - 3rd IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy, EURO S and P 2018
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
Pages243-257
Number of pages15
ISBN (Electronic)9781538642276
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 6 2018
Event3rd IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy, EURO S and P 2018 - London, United Kingdom
Duration: Apr 24 2018Apr 26 2018

Publication series

NameProceedings - 3rd IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy, EURO S and P 2018

Other

Other3rd IEEE European Symposium on Security and Privacy, EURO S and P 2018
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityLondon
Period4/24/184/26/18

Keywords

  • Covert Channels
  • Malware
  • Obfuscation
  • Privacy
  • Symbolic Analysis
  • System Security

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Probabilistic Obfuscation Through Covert Channels'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this