MM 1.91.39 - Auto-generate encrypted strings
Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2015 5:44 pm
Today, I worked on some changes to the MicroMacro 2 branch that will move potentially "sensitive" strings into an (very lightly) encrypted header. Why? Because some software such as, oh, I don't know, GameGuard or HackShield, often scan running executables and check any .data strings for strings that are (supposed to be) unique to a "banned" program. Even though such software has never (to my knowledge) targeted MicroMacro, it is best to move towards a solution before the problem arises.
So, what does this change actually do? It stores the strings inside the binary (micromacro.exe) in an encrypted format so that it is largely infeasible to scan for them in such a way. "But, can't they just scan for the encrypted format anyways?" you might ask. Yes, that is certainly possible to do, but every build of MicroMacro will contain strings encrypted with a randomly-generated key, so doing that would be entirely pointless. While they are only encrypted (obfuscated, really) with a very simple method, it should be "good enough" for such a purpose and can be easily changed if need be.
The code has been committed to the Git repo but binaries are not yet available--not that you need to be in any big hurry to use it.
So, what does this change actually do? It stores the strings inside the binary (micromacro.exe) in an encrypted format so that it is largely infeasible to scan for them in such a way. "But, can't they just scan for the encrypted format anyways?" you might ask. Yes, that is certainly possible to do, but every build of MicroMacro will contain strings encrypted with a randomly-generated key, so doing that would be entirely pointless. While they are only encrypted (obfuscated, really) with a very simple method, it should be "good enough" for such a purpose and can be easily changed if need be.
The code has been committed to the Git repo but binaries are not yet available--not that you need to be in any big hurry to use it.