Modelling the Impact of Code Obfuscation on Energy Usage

Advancements in computing and communication technologies have given rise to low-cost embedded devices with applications in diverse domains such as Smarthome, industrial automation, healthcare, transportation, etc. These devices are power-constrained, which emphasizes the need for lightweight security solutions. Code obfuscation has been demonstrated to provide time-limited protection of source code from inference or tampering attacks. However, the size of the obfuscated code increases with an increase in code size, which can have a negative impact on energy consumption. In particular, different transformations of the source code result in varying amounts of energy consumption for embedded devices. In this work, we model the impact of algorithms for code obfuscation on energy usage for embedded devices and analyze the energy-security-performance trade-offs. The insights from our analysis can be used to develop techniques depending on the needs of the applications, thus facilitating efficient energy usage.

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Recommended citation: Athul Raj, J Jithish, Sriram Sankaran. (2017). “Modelling the Impact of Code Obfuscation on Energy Usage.” DIAS/EDUDM@ ISEC.