Custom Protection Configuration

Advanced Protection Configuration

While Shield's predefined presets (maximum, balance, optimization) work well for most scenarios, you may want to customize exactly which protections are applied to your application. This guide explains how to configure custom protections in your shield.config.json file.

Setting Up Custom Protections

To use custom protections:

1. Set the Preset property to "custom"
2. Add a Protections object that defines which protections to apply

{
  "Name": "My Custom Protection",
  "Preset": "custom",
  "ProjectToken": "<your-project-token-here>",
  "Protections": {
    // Your protection configurations will go here
  }
}

Adding Protections

Each protection is identified by its unique ID (not its display name). To enable a protection, add it to the Protections object:

"Protections": {
  "anti_debug": {},
  "rename": {},
  "control_flow_advance": {}
}

You can enable a protection with an empty object {} or null to use its default settings:

"Protections": {
  "anti_debug": {},  // Using empty object
  "anti_dump": null  // Using null - both approaches work the same
}

Configuring Protection Parameters

Many protections have additional parameters that can be configured. For example, the rename protection has options for which elements to rename and how:

"Protections": {
  "rename": {
    "rename_public": true,
    "rename_arguments": false,
    "mode": "letters"
  },
  "control_flow_advance": {
    "invalid_code": false
  }
}

Finding Protection IDs and Parameters

You can find all available protections, their IDs, and configurable parameters in the Shield Protections documentation.

Here are some typically used protections:

Complete Example

Here's a complete example of a custom protection configuration:

{
  "Name": "Production Security Configuration",
  "Preset": "custom",
  "ProjectToken": "<your-project-token-here>",
  "ProtectionSecret": "my-secret-key",
  "Enabled": true,
  "RunConfiguration": "Release",
  "Protections": {
    "anti_debug": {},
    "anti_dump": {},
    "anti_ildasm": {},
    "rename": {
      "rename_public": true,
      "rename_arguments": true,
      "rename_xaml": false,
      "mode": "letters"
    },
    "control_flow_advance": {
      "invalid_code": false
    },
    "constants_protection": {},
    "resources": {
      "compress": true,
      "encrypt": true
    }
  }
}

Protection Combinations

For optimal security, we recommend using combinations of protections that address different attack vectors:

• Core Security: anti_debug, anti_dump, anti_ildasm
• Code Obfuscation: rename, control_flow_advance, constants_protection
• Resource Protection: resources, invalid_metadata

Next Steps

Now that you've configured your custom protections, you can:

• Test your application to ensure it works correctly with the applied protections
• Configure exclusion rules to exclude specific parts of your code from protection
• Set up signed assemblies if your application uses strong-name signing