Comment by Leherenn
5 years ago
But doesn't it work in some ways? It's not going to save them, but it seems to significantly increase the time/cost of exploiting the vulnerability. One more layer to the security system.
5 years ago
But doesn't it work in some ways? It's not going to save them, but it seems to significantly increase the time/cost of exploiting the vulnerability. One more layer to the security system.
Obfuscating source? No, not at all. It just annoys legitimate security researchers (making them not want to deal with you) and is something that black hat bug finders largely don't care much about. Not only do they have more resources and patience, they are also more willing to use questionable methods to make their lives easier.
What makes it less of an issue for black hats? Do they have access to symbols/source code that security researchers do not/are not willing to use?
I certainly understand the frustration for legitimate researchers, and there's plenty to be said about having the source code available to make auditing easier but in itself it seems that making a black hat take 6 months instead of 1 to create an exploit raise the skill/patience level needed and busy them for while where they are not working on the next exploit.
Yes: black hats have much more incentive and generally larger, more focused teams to find these bugs, and they aren't concerned with the issues of buying stolen devices and source code on the black market. (If you're curious, search for "dev-fused iPhone" and "iBoot source code". The Project Zero team works from about the worst situation possible, choosing to even forgo using services like Corellium.)
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