Toward Digital Asset Protection

Man-at-the-end (MATE) attacks are an understudied branch of computer security. These attacks involve an adversary gaining an advantage by violating software or hardware under their control, directly or via a remote connection. On an individual scale, MATE attacks could violate the privacy and integrity of medical records and other sensitive personal data, and on a larger scale, they could cripple a national infrastructure (such as a power grid and the Internet itself). The goal of software protection (SP) research is to make software safe from such MATE attacks by preventing adversaries from tampering, reverse engineering, and illegally redistributing software. In July 2011, the Digital Asset Protection Association (DAPA) was launched to address the challenges specific to MATE attacks and SP research in general. As DAPA activities and efforts get underway, the ultimate goal is to establish standards and baseline definitions for SP research and to promote coordinated, open efforts among academia and industry.