Tamper-proof way of storing files external to exe (images, configuration files etc)
in [Visual Basic]
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From: Karl E. Peterson on 2 Nov 2009 15:11 John Smith wrote: > I will need to update files related to my project regularly (through a > separate downloader) and would like to store everything in some sort of > container that can't be edited or modified on the client's machine. How > should I go about this? Alternate Data Streams? -- ..NET: It's About Trust! http://vfred.mvps.org
From: Chris Dunaway on 2 Nov 2009 17:09 On Nov 2, 2:11 pm, "Karl E. Peterson" <k...(a)exmvps.org> wrote: > John Smith wrote: > > I will need to update files related to my project regularly (through a > > separate downloader) and would like to store everything in some sort of > > container that can't be edited or modified on the client's machine. How > > should I go about this? > > Alternate Data Streams? > -- > .NET: It's About Trust! > http://vfred.mvps.org Can VB6 open an Alternate Data Stream? One thing that makes me leery of them is that when viewing disk statistics, the bytes free and other stats do not reflect the presence of the ADS. I'm not sure if that would be a big deal, but it's something to think about. Chris
From: Nobody on 2 Nov 2009 17:29 You could use password protected ZIP files with Info-Zip like was suggested in this thread. See "Visual Basic 5/6 code for the Infozip DLLs" sample at this link: http://home.modemss.brisnet.org.au/~mlevoi/dos.html In particular, UnzipFile(). If the DLL finds that the ZIP file is password protected, it calls the callback function UZDLLPass(). The sample prompts the user to enter the password using InputBox() function, just change it to a fixed password. I have used this DLL to UnZip files, but didn't use the password feature. Also, unzip to locations that are writeable by the user, such as AppData folder. Do not use "Program Files" because it's not writable by default by members of the limited "Users" group. Search the newsgroups for "vb CSIDL_APPDATA" for sample code.
From: Karl E. Peterson on 2 Nov 2009 18:14 Chris Dunaway wrote: > On Nov 2, 2:11 pm, "Karl E. Peterson" <k...(a)exmvps.org> wrote: >> John Smith wrote: >> > I will need to update files related to my project regularly (through a >> > separate downloader) and would like to store everything in some sort of >> > container that can't be edited or modified on the client's machine. How >> > should I go about this? >> >> Alternate Data Streams? > > Can VB6 open an Alternate Data Stream? Absolutely. Open "myfile.dat:ads.name" For Binary As #hFile In fact, I'm going to be posting something on my site fairly soon showing how to do a lot more than that. > One thing that makes me leery of them is that when viewing disk > statistics, the bytes free and other stats do not reflect the presence > of the ADS. I'm not sure if that would be a big deal, but it's > something to think about. Yep, that's what freaks out the security freaks, too. <g> Bigger concern is they're only available in NTFS. If you min-spec XP, that should cover 98% of the audience, but you need to have a fallback plan. -- ..NET: It's About Trust! http://vfred.mvps.org
From: mayayana on 2 Nov 2009 19:19
> In fact, I'm going to be posting something on my > site fairly soon showing how to do > a lot more than that. > I just posted a scripting component last week that makes it easy to clean a drive of ADS files in seconds. :) Personally I'd uninstall anything I caught using hokey, secretive techniques like ADS. It's simply data files that Explorer can't see. I can't think of a more idiotic idea than creating a second file system that's visible to everyone but the file system browser and the machine owner. But even if you don't have anything against ADS files, it seems a bit early to start depending on them, unless you're dealing with Vista+ only. There are still plenty of FAT32 systems around. There wouldn't be any good reason to risk the incompatibility with a technique that's not necessary. |