HOTDOL: HTML obfuscation with text distribution to overlapping layers

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to propose a method for protecting HTML content from unauthorized reuse. A document protected using this method can still be viewed with a standard text editor, but it is virtually impossible to modify, and is therefore unattractive for redistribution. Existing obfuscation methods and restriction codes that limit certain activities in the web browser are less effective due to fundamental problems of circumvention. Not only does our method address these problems using internal reconstruction of obfuscated text, but it also maintains full accessibility to web content. We begin by specifying the HOTDOL (HTML Obfuscation with Text Distribution to Overlapping Layers) standard, under which a document maintains its general layout but has its internal representation of HTML transformed into illegible text. We then suggest three alternative service architectures through which HOTDOL can be applied to existing web services. We performed a quantitative evaluation in the form of an offline survey with 12 questions, confirming the protectiveness of our method relative to other methods currently in use. To assess the computational efficiency of our method, we also measured the processing and rendering times for obfuscated documents in real environments, and found them to be commercially viable.