CAB FILES -- Can third-parties view source code?

[Guest]

I was reading more about the .NET FRAMEWORK's SDKs and i found that there
exists a utilitiy that enables developers to view manifest data, assembly
data and even source code!

When compiling CAB files using VS.NET, is there any way that a third-party
can use any of the utilities that come w/ the .NET FRAMEWORK SDKs to view the
actual source code?

If so, what must i do to ensure that the CAB files are encrypted and that
the underlying source-code cannot be accessed.

Thanks!

 

[Philip Hristov]

Hello,

CAB files are like ZIP files. It can be extracted easily and then the
..dll in there can be easily disassembled.

You should use an obscuficator to make your assembly harder to be
disassembled, and even if someone disassemble it, for him it will be
hard to understand the resulting source code.

Visual Studio .NET Enterprise comes with obscuficator, but I forgot the
name of application...

Regards,

Philip Hristov.