CryptoService

CryptoService is a code obfuscation service that is available through a Russian provider. According to ESG security researchers, CryptoService's clientele is typically made up of criminals and hackers that produce malware. While there is nothing inherently wrong with code obfuscation, services provided by CryptoService are specifically designed to obstruct the labor of PC security researchers from all around the world. Because of this, CryptoService is classified as a malware-related enterprise and, by helping criminals make their malware more difficult to remove and detect, are participating in a criminal enterprise themselves. CryptoService does not pose a threat to your computer system; however, CryptoService code obfuscation has been found in a number of malware infections in 2011. CryptoService's main role has been to obfuscate the code of Trojans and malicious Java scripts.

Taking a Look at CryptoService and Code Obfuscation Techniques

As was mentioned before, there is nothing inherently wrong with code obfuscation. In fact, there is a large community of cryptographers and computer programmers that participate in recreational code obfuscation, even going as far as having worldwide competitions. Code obfuscation is the practice of hiding or encrypting a computer's code, making it nearly impossible to read by humans while maintaining its functionality. Criminals will typically use code obfuscation and services like CryptoService to turn their malware's code into a wall of gibberish impossible to understand without first decrypting it. While code obfuscation has legitimate uses in the software industry such as protecting a company's software from industrial espionage or reverse engineering, it can also be applied to make the work of PC security analysts much more difficult. A malware analyst or anti-malware program faced with a Trojan with obfuscated code may not be able to detect it, remove it or understand how it works. This makes the removal of malware a much more labor-intensive process, as it will necessarily first involve discovering algorithms used in obfuscating the malware's code. However, the fight against malware and criminal services like CryptoService is not a one-sided battle. Malware researchers all over the globe are continually uncovering new ways in which criminals typically obfuscate their code, as well as ways to undo these kinds of malicious tactics. As part of the fight against CryptoService and other code obfuscating services, PC security researchers constantly discover better decrypting algorithms and techniques that can help them uncover the way malware works to infect your computer system.