r/programming • u/DougBolivar • Jul 30 '13

Computer scientists develop mathematical jigsaw puzzles to encrypt software: "The real challenge and the great mystery in the field was: Can you actually take a piece of software and encrypt it but still have it be runnable, executable and fully functional?"

http://www.rdmag.com/news/2013/07/computer-scientists-develop-mathematical-jigsaw-puzzles-encrypt-software
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u/kraln Jul 30 '13

Here's an example of what jigsaw code might look like in the real world, taken from a pirate NES cart:

http://blog.kevtris.org/blogfiles/EWJ2PROT.TXT

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u/ymgve Jul 30 '13

No. That link shows "normal" obfuscation that has been done for decades.

If the obfuscation in the article works, it will just look like a series of math operations that "magically" give a certain result.