Cool additions by Dropbox Interns

http://blog.dropbox.com/?p=875

by chromedude • 15 years ago

44 18 15 years ago

blog.dropbox.com

koopajah• 15 years ago

Nice to see that interns seem to choose the topic they'd like to work on and feel like making really useful work! Pretty skeptical of the code obfuscator part. Even written from scratch this will not prevent people to deobfuscate it in the end.

esrauch5• 15 years ago

It's not possible to reconstruct variable names that are replaced with arbitrary strings.

thezilch• 15 years ago

It would be possible to infer function and variable names, given enough thought.

yid• 15 years ago

You seem to have not heard of the field of software reverse-engineering. If you think obfuscated JS is hard to understand, keep in mind that people like DVD Jon typically reverse-engineer algorithms out of optimized assembly.

davidsiems• 15 years ago

You don't need variable names to understand what the code is doing, it's just harder without them.

Try going to google.com with chrome, opening the developer console, going to scripts right clicking and selecting 'de-obfuscate source'.

igorgue2• 15 years ago

I remember writing a code obfuscator for my first job at company XYZ ;-), not really a pleasant experience. That's why interns or entry level employees do that.

bkaid• 15 years ago

So Dropbox security is based on a code obfuscator? And was it an intern that let us log into any dropbox account with any password? Kidding, but seriously, they need to get more interns because one of the most requested feature for years on their site is remote wipe (https://www.dropbox.com/votebox/35/remote-destroy-purge-opti...) and they never implement it. Granted its not an entirely reliable method but its better than not offering it.

esrauch5• 15 years ago

Every major company uses code obfuscation/minification/compilation on their javascript. It's not really clear what they mean though...

latch• 15 years ago

I think it's pretty clear that they mean their source code. This isn't about user security, it's about their intellectual property.

(To your parent, not you): Sometimes I'm sure people misunderstand on purpose just so they have something to be indignant about.

igorgue2• 15 years ago

obfuscation != minification != compilation

kingkilr• 15 years ago

This isn't for their javascript, it's for their client which is Python code. Their previous obfuscator has been broken (by at least one nice hacker who told them).

rodh257• 15 years ago

That's not what they are saying at all. The obfuscator is to protect their source code, it has nothing to do with your account and files being secured or not.

crdoconnor• 15 years ago

Remote wipe is a horrible way to implement security on a Dropbox account. Better is client side encryption - although Dropbox has no intention of implementing that either.

There are a few other companies that have, however: http://skeptu.com/secure-alternatives-to-dropbox

georgieporgie• 15 years ago

"and came from a variety of schools (MIT, Stanford, Brown, CMU, Tufts, Chapman and University of Ontario"

eyeroll Starting the elitism early, I see.

sebkomianos• 15 years ago

And the message of this comment is?

Cool additions by Dropbox Interns

Related Stories