Hi,
I am working on a product and don't want my code to get into others hands by extracting it by any means. I will enable the fuse bytes but I know that is not the most reliable method as I have seen many people pay extra to extract the code and duplicate it.
So I had an idea what if I heat my programming pins to such extent that it will permanently damage ONLY THOSE PINS so that no one can extract it.
If anyone had tried this or has any idea how to secure my code kindly help.
Thank you.
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crazyman2012:
So I had an idea what if I heat my programming pins to such extent that it will permanently damage ONLY THOSE PINS so that no one can extract it.
Interesting concept.
So what happened when you tried it ?
Its a low cost experiment, ATmega328P processors are only about £1.50 ?
Doesn't prevent someone from chemically delidding your part to access the chip.
More than likely you will damage the voltage clamping diodes and end up with VCC shorted to Gnd and thus have a dead chip.
crazyman2012:
I have seen many people pay extra to extract the code and duplicate it.
I highly doubt it (by bypassing the fuse bits alone). References?
aarg:
I highly doubt it. References?
Usually I believe (going by other chips I’m more familiar with) code recovery involves de-capping the chip. With such extreme measures I doubt a few damaged pins, if indeed that’s all the OP damages, would present much of an issue.
CrossRoads:
Doesn't prevent someone from chemically delidding your part to access the chip.
Not much you can do against that type of attack, if you want the chip to remain functional, but then it becomes a question of just how many thousands of dollars someone is willing to spend stealing code as opposed to just writing their own code to accomplish the same task.
david_2018:
Not much you can do against that type of attack, if you want the chip to remain functional, but then it becomes a question of just how many thousands of dollars someone is willing to spend stealing code as opposed to just writing their own code to accomplish the same task.
This is key. You can take some measures to defend against copying, but in the end, if that code is on a Arduino, it's probably not very complex and anyone who feels like it can hire off-shore developers to replicate it cheaply. It may not be obvious how it does what it does, but anyone with a scope/logic analyzer can see what it does.
You need to distinguish your product over other offerings in some other way, trying to keep the inner special sauce secret won't help if you do produce something new that people want.
crazyman2012:
I am working on a product and don't want my code to get into others hands by extracting it by any means.
So whats the product ?
How important is it that no-one is able to extract 'my code' from the product ?
If its a product, how much are you prepared to pay for advice on how to secure it ?
srnet:
If its a product, how much are you prepared to pay for advice on how to secure it ?
That sounds like a good indicator of its worth.
There is also the issue of what proportion of the product's value is code what proportion is hardware.
The sad reality is that if you create a product that someone else reckons will earn him a $million profit and if you can't afford the lawyer's fees to protect your invention or your copyright then it will be very hard to stop that guy from producing a competing product. So just make it Open Source code and sleep soundly.
...R