Windows Phone 7 and app piracy - closer than we think [Security Whitepaper]

Walking the fine line between blackness and white lid security, XDA member 5@l€n has gone and posted a detailed "security whitepaper" on the country of app piracy in the Windows Phone Marketplace.

Nosotros most hate to write on the topic since it volition attract claims of supporting piracy, but the fact is developers and Microsoft need to know just how vulnerable the platform is and then that it can be improved on before information technology'due south a problem. And that's but it, right now in that location is no issue with app piracy for Windows Phone, simply information technology is inching closer and once those few remaining hurdles are cleared, there will literally be a overflowing of pirated apps on the market.

But earlier we spring into all of that, lets particular exactly what is going on here. For amend or worse, V@fifty€north has washed a great job of outlining all the steps needed to make a ridiculous piracy campaign, showing all the necessary procedures that need to be cleared.

Follow u.s. after the jump as we walk through this story...

As mentioned earlier, app piracy just does not exist notwithstanding in the Marketplace. But what V@fifty€north has done is given potential "black hat" developers a stride by step guide on how to make such piracy happen. More importantly, V@l€n veers on advocacy here by wanting to "liberate" apps from Microsoft's "oppressive Featured Apps section" undermining his whiepaper's credibility in just preventing piracy. But putting aside judgment on motivation, lets look at the crux of the issue.

The steps needed to break downward Microsoft's security is summarized as follows:

Download all the apps from the Marketplace: done (or can be washed)
Seed those apps in a torrent for peer to peer distribution
Circumvent the ten sideload app limit: done (see hither)
Enable a disabled app: tricky, simply can exist done, no method to do it en masse
Get around code obfuscation (not mentioned by Five@50€n, we'll do it for him)
Remove XAP security signature: needs piece of work

Similar we said, V@50€n doesn't seem enlightened that the 10-sideloaded app limit has already been breached, nor does he mention any potential use of code obfuscation which Microsoft is openly advocating and offering to developers for free.

Notwithstanding, every bit can be seen above, the road to a completely open and hacked Marketplace is non that far off and in fact, seems within reach if and when more developers (black and white hat) brainstorm tampering with the Os and evolution tools. None of this is unusual for any new Os and there is no 100% foolproof solution (iOS is cracked wide open and there is even a pirated app shop for the platform that makes stealing software as like shooting fish in a barrel as buying legit).

The real question is this: Is Microsoft prepared for this and practise they have extra security features waiting in the wings to either forestall or apace ameliorate whatever such security breach when it happens?

That we don't know and is what should concern commercial developers.

Source: XDA Forums; Thank you, 5@50€due north, for the info

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