Obfuscation for Universal Windows Platform (UWP)

Microsoft is on the rush and producing new technologies with a speed of fertile female rabbit.

Today we have Universal Windows Platform or UWP for short. All the rage goes to the walled garden ecosystem and Orwellian “1984” where you have to pay 30% cut to the Big Brother.

The previous efforts with Windows 8 and 8.1 "apps" proved to be disasters for a number of reasons. One of them is developers' unwillingness to participate in Microsoft grand scheme of things where one has to pay 30% cut to Windows Store, literally for nothing. The same trend is observed in Mac App Store: there is an unfolding exodus of developers.

Another factor is destructive pace of changes. Just take a look at Windows Phone. It started with Silverlight, then switched to WinRT, then UWP and this whole history is tighly packed in just 3 or 4 years. Is it possible to build a platform where you constantly burn your past achievements into ashes? Nope, the chances are dim.

Nevertheless Eazfuscator.NET 5.1 gave UWP a go. It also nicely cooperates with .NET Native bringing more security to your applications.

Is obfuscation needed for .NET Native applications?

.NET Native translates your application into native code. This means that attackers will have a harder time extracting the logic from your code.

The areas .NET Native does not cover:

  • Strings are not encrypted and can be easily found by an unaided eye
  • The names of classes and their members are all present in a raw text format in native code
  • Windows Runtime Components are not processed by .NET Native and contain usual .NET code instructions
  • Class libraries cannot be specifically covered by .NET Native. Class libraries are only converted to native code when the .EXE application that uses them is compiled by .NET Native. If you are a component provider and sell your libraries to other developers then the obfuscation is perfectly useful to you

It is up to you to decide whether your application needs more security. Eazfuscator.NET nicely cooperates with .NET Native and allows to achieve better protection for your applications.

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