👉 Negative engineering, also known as anti-engineering or defensive programming, refers to the practice of designing software systems with the intention of making them more difficult to exploit or reverse-engineer. This approach involves techniques such as obfuscation, encryption, and the use of anti-tamper mechanisms to protect intellectual property, prevent unauthorized access, and hinder reverse engineering efforts. While these measures can deter casual users or non-authorized entities from understanding the inner workings of a system, they often introduce complexity, reduce performance, and can sometimes create new vulnerabilities. The primary negative aspect is that they can complicate maintenance, debugging, and updates, potentially leading to a less efficient and more error-prone development process.
