CODEWITHSUNDEEP
c#.netobfuscationcil
Kim Sun-wu
Kim Sun-wu

Reputation: 1668

Does compiling to native code in .Net remove the MSIL completely?

I'm wondering if, in the context of disassembling .Net code (Redgate .Net reflector, etc), is it more secure to compile your code to native, using Ngen? That is, does that mean someone would now need IDA and ASM skills to disassemble (and make sense) of your code vs the relatively trivial de-compiling of MSIL?

Yes, I'm aware that MS provides a obfuscater for exactly this purpose, but I'm curious if compiling to native is a better solution, with some tradeoffs(no JIT).

Thanks.

Upvotes: 8

Views: 673

Answers (1)

Ben Voigt
Ben Voigt

Reputation: 283684

ngen doesn't remove the MSIL (or rather, the native binary produced by ngen is unusable without also having the MSIL file). MSIL is still used by the verifier to determine whether to load assemblies in partial-trust scenarios, and for reflection.

There's a lot of good information here.

Upvotes: 8

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