WebAssembly Evaluation for Software Protection

WebAssembly (WASM) is a new portable size and load-time efficient binary code format designed to serve as a compilation target for the web. WASM enables browsers to compile code bundles and run faster than existing Javascript. It will include both a binary notation, that compilers will produce, and a corresponding text notation, suitable for displaying in debuggers or development environments. WASM is still in early stages of development and has not been evaluated comprehensively. Our objective is to experiment with browser implementations of WASM and investigate its capabilities. We will exploit WASM to evaluate its security offerings and functional specifications for future deployment in applications. We will engage with WASM development team of partner organization to make certain that it has all the capabilities required for deployment. We will also conduct a vulnerability assessment on existing browsers to find out possibility of security threats when WASM is used. Moreover, we will investigate possible impacts to Irdeto’s current software protection technology and make necessary recommendations on evolution strategy and plan to software protection technology in WASM.

Faculty Supervisor:

Mohammad Mannan

Student:

Partner:

Irdeto Canada (Kanata, ON)

Discipline:

Computer science

Sector:

Information and cultural industries; Professional, scientific and technical services

University:

Concordia University

Program: