SWF Protection
| Name | SWF Protection |
| Category | Developer – Flash – Security |
| URL | http://www.swfprotection.com/ |
| Rating (out of 5) | [rating:4] |
Description
SWF Protection is a tool for Flash Developers to ‘protect’ the .swf (flash movie) files that they produce.
It encrypts and obfuscates the swf file, including images, multimedia and ActionScript to offer an extra level of security against hacking and cracking.
SWF Protection works with Flash v6, v7, v8, v9, v10 as well as ActionScript 2 and ActionScript 3.
SWF Protection is only available on Windows (sorry Mac and Linux users!) – 98, ME, XP, 2000, 2003 Server, Vista and 7. It is also available for use on both 32-bit and 64-bit machines.
On their own website, the developers of SWF Protection say:
“SWFProtection can stop all Flash decompilers, thus helps you protect your valuable design, hard working andintellectual properties from being stolen.”
Review
SWF Protection is a good tool at a Flash developers disposal to add an extra layer of protection to their flash movies. Piracy and cracking have always been big things but they are ever increasing in importance as the numbers of hackers and hacking organisations ready to crack your software and its protection increases.
Piracy of software can cost a business a substantial amount of money – and in some cases can even cause new businesses or small developers to go out of business.
No type of software protection, no matter how expensive or who it is developed by, is going to be perfect and 100% foolproof. That is not the aim of protection and security software. The aim is to make it sufficiently difficult that it is not worth the time, effort and resources required to crack the application.
The main aim of SWF Protection is to ‘protect’, as much as possible, the SWF files which, without any protection, are particularly vulnerable to ‘Flash decompilers’ and decompilation tools designed to take the compiled SWF file back to its original source code (well, near original source code anyway ;)).
There is a free ‘trial’ version which doesn’t appear to have any restrictions but it will watermark your Flash movies after protection. To have no watermark present on your protected Flash movies you can upgrade to the full version, which is currently priced at $69.95 (approximately £44.54) for a personal license and $99.95 (approximately £63.64) for a commercial license.
