UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

I am a new software developer and I wish to sell my software. I recently realized that from C++ code we can not stop the user seeing parts of the code that are related to scripts or system commands.

Would you make some comments on how software written in C++/JAVA (distributed via CD-ROMs or available via download) is protected from reverse engineering, scanners for when the code is in memory and direct copy of parts (as system commands).

What a small software company which just starts producing software should do to protect its product from the technological point of view (it should not be able to pay legal fees ...)?

Actually writing your application in C or Java, as opposed to using C or Java to obscure a program written in shell, would protect you a lot better.

For one thing, it'd mean they couldn't just trace the shell to get the raw code.

Second, it's very difficult to reverse-engineer C or Java application code. The program text does not exist inside the application you give to your customers(unless you accidentally include debugging information!) so they cannot extract it. All they get are raw CPU instructions or java bytecodes. They don't even get your variable names.

That said, if you're not willing to legally protect your code, you have no weapon against the truly determined. Difficult does not mean impossible.

Actually, nowadays, it is quite easy to reverse engineer most binary code using tools like HexRays IDA or the HexRays disassember. These tools are not cheap but they are what the professionals use to reverse engineer malware, spyware and the like. There are also other proprietary extensions to IDA which are domain specific and do an even better job than the HexRays disassembler.