Protection Strength Calculator
Compare the effectiveness of obfuscation, packing, and encryption techniques against their overhead costs. Adjust priority sliders to match your needs, see ranked results, and get detailed cost-benefit analysis for each technique — all free, private, and no signup required.
Compare the effectiveness of obfuscation, packing, and encryption techniques against their overhead costs. Select techniques you are considering and see a ranked comparison with protection scores, size impact, and performance overhead.
Priority Weights
Adjust each priority slider to reflect your project's needs. Higher values give that factor more influence on the overall score.
Technique Ranking(17 techniques)
| # | Technique | Category | Protection | Size | Perf | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AES-256 Encryption | encryption | 85 | +25% | 20% | 47 |
| 2 | Fernet (AES-128-CBC + HMAC) | encryption | 80 | +30% | 18% | 46 |
| 3 | Anti-Tamper / Integrity Checks | obfuscation | 70 | +10% | 15% | 45 |
| 4 | AES-128 Encryption | encryption | 75 | +25% | 15% | 44 |
| 5 | Domain Locking | obfuscation | 55 | +5% | 2% | 38 |
| 6 | Control Flow Flattening | obfuscation | 60 | +80% | 20% | 35 |
| 7 | Blowfish Cipher | encryption | 50 | +20% | 8% | 35 |
| 8 | String Encoding | obfuscation | 40 | +30% | 5% | 31 |
AES-256 Encryption — Profile
Advanced Encryption Standard with 256-bit key — maximum AES security level
Strengths
- +Highest AES security level
- +NSA Suite B approved
- +Resistant to quantum attacks (vs. 128-bit?)
Weaknesses
- −Slower than AES-128 (~40%)
- −Requires secure key management
- −Key visible in binary if hardcoded
Recommendations
- • Strong protection — effective against most automated analysis tools
- • Readily detectable — protection signatures are known
- • Moderate size increase — acceptable for most applications
- • Performance impact is notable — test thoroughly on target hardware
Score Breakdown
Privacy Guarantee
All analysis runs entirely in your browser. No data is uploaded or stored — all protection technique comparison data is built-in and processed locally.
Comprehensive Technique Database
Compare 14 protection techniques across three categories: obfuscation methods (variable renaming, string encoding, dead code injection, control flow flattening, numeric obfuscation, domain locking, anti-tamper), packers (UPX, MPRESS, ASPack, FSG), and encryption (XOR, RC4, Blowfish, AES-128/256, Fernet).
Radar Chart Visualization
Visualize each technique's profile across six dimensions: protection strength, anti-detection, stealth, performance, compactness, and maturity. The radar chart makes it easy to spot which techniques excel in your priority areas at a glance.
Customizable Priority Weights
Adjust sliders for protection strength, anti-detection, stealth, performance, and file size to match your specific needs. The weighted scoring engine recalculates all rankings in real time based on your priorities.
Cost vs Benefit Analysis
Each technique shows protection score alongside size increase percentage, performance impact rating, and strength-to-overhead ratio. Detailed strengths, weaknesses, and automated recommendations help you make informed decisions.
Choosing a Protection Strategy
When deciding how to protect your code, compare techniques side by side to find the right balance of security, performance, and size. Use the weighted scoring to prioritize what matters most for your specific application.
Obfuscation Tool Selection
Evaluate obfuscation tools and techniques before integrating them into your build pipeline. Compare variable renaming, string encoding, control flow flattening, and anti-tamper to build a layered protection strategy.
Enterprise Security Planning
When designing software protection for enterprise distribution, use the comparison to justify the performance overhead of stronger techniques like AES-256 encryption or control flow flattening to stakeholders.
Learning About Protection
For students and researchers learning about software protection, the technique database provides clear explanations of how each method works, its strengths, and its limitations — all in one place.
License & DRM Planning
When implementing license enforcement or DRM, compare domain locking, anti-tamper checks, and encryption to design a multi-layered protection scheme that makes bypassing difficult.
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Present data-driven protection decisions to your team or clients. The strength-to-overhead ratio and weighted scores provide concrete metrics for comparing the trade-offs of different approaches.
What Is a Protection Strength Calculator?
A protection strength calculator helps you compare different software protection techniques — including obfuscation methods, executable packers, and encryption algorithms — based on their security effectiveness versus their overhead costs. Instead of guessing which technique is best for your needs, you can see them ranked by weighted scores that you customize based on your priorities.
How Are Scores Calculated?
Each protection technique is scored across five dimensions: protection strength (how hard it is to defeat), detection difficulty (how resistant it is to analysis tools), stealth (how well-hidden the protection is), performance impact (runtime overhead), and file size impact. A weighted scoring engine combines these dimensions using your priority sliders, producing an overall score from 0-100. The strength-to-overhead ratio divides the combined protection metrics by the total overhead cost.
Why Compare Obfuscation, Packers, and Encryption?
These three categories serve different purposes in software protection. Obfuscation makes code harder to understand, packers compress and protect executables, and encryption secures data and strings. Most real-world protection strategies use a combination — for example, encrypting sensitive strings with AES-256, then packing the executable with MPRESS, and applying control flow flattening. Comparing all three categories helps you design a balanced, layered defense.
Privacy & Accuracy
All analysis runs entirely in your browser. The technique database is built-in and does not require any external API calls. Scores are based on established industry knowledge of each technique's properties and should be used as comparative guidance rather than absolute measurements. Actual effectiveness depends on implementation quality, target environment, and attacker sophistication.
What is a protection strength calculator?
A protection strength calculator compares different software protection techniques — including obfuscation methods, executable packers, and encryption algorithms — based on their effectiveness versus overhead costs. It ranks techniques by customizable weighted scores so you can make informed decisions about which techniques best fit your needs.
How are the scores calculated?
Each technique is scored across five dimensions: protection strength, detection difficulty, stealth, performance impact, and size impact. The weighted scoring engine combines these using your priority sliders to produce an overall score from 0-100. A strength-to-overhead ratio divides protection metrics by total overhead cost.
How many techniques are included?
The database includes 14 protection techniques: 7 obfuscation methods (variable renaming, string encoding, dead code injection, control flow flattening, numeric obfuscation, domain locking, anti-tamper), 4 packers (UPX, MPRESS, ASPack, FSG), and 5 encryption methods (XOR, RC4, Blowfish, AES-128, AES-256, Fernet).
What do the priority weights do?
Priority weights let you control how much each factor influences the overall ranking. For example, if file size is critical, increase the 'File Size' slider to give size impact more influence. If performance is paramount, increase the 'Performance' slider. The ranking updates in real time as you adjust.
What is the strength-to-overhead ratio?
The strength-to-overhead ratio combines protection score and detection difficulty divided by total overhead (size increase + performance impact + inverse of stealth). A higher ratio means you get more protection per unit of overhead. This helps identify efficient techniques that provide good security without excessive costs.
Should I use just one technique or combine multiple?
In practice, combining multiple techniques provides the best protection. For example, you might encrypt sensitive strings with AES-256, apply control flow flattening to protect logic, then pack the executable with MPRESS. Each layer addresses different threats and makes reverse engineering progressively harder.
Are the scores absolute measurements?
No — the scores are comparative guidance based on established industry knowledge of each technique's properties. Actual effectiveness depends on implementation quality, the specific tool used, the target environment, and attacker sophistication. Use the scores to compare techniques, not as absolute security guarantees.
What does the radar chart show?
The radar chart visualizes a technique's profile across six dimensions: protection strength, anti-detection, stealth, performance (inverted so higher is better), compactness (size efficiency), and maturity. A larger, more balanced polygon indicates a well-rounded technique. The chart makes it easy to compare profiles visually.
Is my data safe when using this tool?
Yes — 100% safe. All analysis runs entirely in your browser. The technique database is built into the page and no data is uploaded to any server. Your protection priorities and comparisons never leave your device.