Secure Runtime Encryption of Critical Source-Code Functions for IP Protection

Software vendors face persistent threats from reverse-engineering, tampering, and IP theft once code is distributed. We present a method and system that selectively encrypts critical functions in the source code, ships encrypted function artifacts separately, and decrypts & executes those functions only in memory at runtime with integrity checks and immediate memory-wipe cleanup. This approach combines fine-grained protection, tamper detection, and ephemeral execution to raise the bar for attackers while remaining language- and platform-agnostic.