Protecting a computer program against reverse engineering

A method of launching a protected computer program comprising the steps of:

• starting a launcher module of a native code launcher executable, the native code launcher executable containing an encrypted bootstrap library, the encrypted bootstrap library containing at least one program library being at least one of obfuscated and encrypted;
• starting a virtual machine with the launcher module;
• decrypting the bootstrap library with the launcher module;
• loading a bootstrap module of the bootstrap library into the virtual machine and starting the bootstrap module with the launcher module;
• and
• loading a program library contained in the bootstrap library into the virtual machine and starting the program library with the bootstrap module;
• resolving a call to an encrypted further program library by the bootstrap module by:
• waiting for the call;
• decrypting the further program library after the call;
• and
• loading the further program library into the virtual machine.

A computer program product comprises a non-transitory computer readable medium stored instructions that when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of:

• starting a launcher module of a native code launcher executable,
• the native code launcher executable containing an encrypted bootstrap library,
• the encrypted bootstrap library containing at least one program library being at least one of obfuscated and encrypted;
• starting a virtual machine with the launcher module;
• decrypting the bootstrap library with the launcher module;
• loading a bootstrap module of the bootstrap library into the virtual machine and starting the bootstrap module with the launcher module;
• and
• loading a program library contained in the bootstrap library into the virtual
• machine and starting the program library with the bootstrap module;
• wherein the native code launcher executable containing native code;
• wherein the encrypted bootstrap library contained in the launcher executable;
• and
• at least one program library being at least one of obfuscated and encrypted contained in the bootstrap library.